Mimi: I love Johnson Lakes Canyon. It’s a private inholding in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We go every year, and there is this big effort to restore it to its natural state, and there’s a lot of experimentation going on. It’s wonderful to see what works, what doesn’t work, what has potential for the future, and it’s wonderful to see plants coming back. And the same people come back every year! So they become your friends. They’re your family.
Mimi: I felt like I found my people! When I first moved here, I wanted to know the name of every plant. I studied and studied, but there was no reason to know the plants except for my own personal enjoyment. So to find a purpose to apply what I was learning gave me a reason to keep studying!
Mimi: It’s always an adventure. You go out, and you don’t know what’s going to happen. And even if it’s a hardship, like it’s an unbelievably hot day or it’s snowing when you’re doing fieldwork and freezing, regardless of what happens it’s a good memory. That’s what sustains me. You always get something good out of it.
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Also in this issue:
What you need to know about new mining claims staked in Utah's national monuments. Read now ›