Outdoors notes

MOUNTAIN GOAT WATCH

BEAVER — The Division of Wildlife Resources will host its annual Tushar Mountain Goat Watch on Saturday, Aug. 8, on the Tushar Mountains east of Beaver.

The event is free to the public, and the DWR will provide all the equipment necessary to view the goats, which often number as many as 100. However, at some of the past events, the goats have gotten as close as 35 feet from those viewing them, making viewing equipment unnecessary. Due to its high altitude, other unique animals, such as yellow-bellied marmots and pika, may also be seen in this alpine-tundra ecosystem.

Lynn Chamberlain, a regional conservation outreach manager for the DWR, conducts the event every year.

Chamberlain says the trip will begin at 8 a.m. at the convenience store at the bottom of Exit 109 off I-15. (Exit 109 is the exit on the south side of Beaver.)

"From there, we'll caravan to the top of the Tushar Mountains," Chamberlain says. "When we reach the top, we'll be about 11,500 feet above sea level. The view from there is amazing. You can see all of southern Utah, and we can almost always locate the goats."

Chamberlain encourages participants to bring water, a hat, a jacket and a sack lunch. It's also a good idea to travel in a vehicle that has high ground clearance.

"The road can be rocky towards the top," he said.

For more information about the goat-watching event, call the DWR's Southern Region office at 435-865-6100.

NEW FISH IN HUNTINGTON

HUNTINGTON — The Huntington North Reservoir in central Utah recently received a new sportfish.

On July 9, Division of Wildlife Resources hatchery workers flushed 10,000 wriggling wipers out of a hatchery truck and into Huntington North's waters. Wipers are a sterile cross between a striped bass and a white bass. They can grow to be more than two feet long and weigh almost 10 pounds.

Huntington North is home to a number of sportfish, including largemouth bass, channel catfish, bluegill and several species of trout.

Unfortunately, the Utah chub, which has proven to be a nemesis in many Utah waters, also lives in the reservoir. The new infusion of wipers should help control the reservoir's chub population.

Wipers are pelagic fish that like to cruise for their prey. The basin-shaped construction of Huntington North is ideal for this species. Its shape should make it easy for wiper schools to patrol its open waters.