Persevering Pioneers

Persevering Pioneers

Over the last 160 or so years, there have been a number of intrepid and hearty pioneers who came to wrest a living from the West Desert. Some were associated with the various efforts like the Jackass Mail, the Pony Express, the Overland Stage, and the Lincoln Highway that sought to move mail, freight and people across a harsh environment.

Others came to take advantage of the infrequent water sources to begin the first cattle and farming operations. They developed irrigation systems, grew hay, raised cattle and horses and were, for the most part, relatively self sufficient operations.

I like to introduce you to the first pioneers of the Fish Spring National Wildlife Refuge. Arriving on the scene quite a bit later then many pioneers, in 1959 shortly after the Refuge was first established, Lynn and Judy Greenwalt, were, nonetheless, pioneers by any modern day standards. They would arrive at a location with great raw wildlife habitat, no housing other than a 20' trailer, no indoor plumbing or electricity and would leave it almost three years later as a thriving management refuge with houses, an office, dikes and water control structures being built and a generally a great deal more civilized then they had come to it!

Refuge Manager Lynn Greenwalt and son Mark in 1960



If Santa can find you at Fish Springs I guess he really does find all the children!



The entire Refuge HQ in 1960!

Mind you, the pair were well prepared for the trials and tribulation of being the first on site, living so far from civilization and enduring the lack of what most of us, even in the West Desert, now regard as normal amenities. They were prepared for this daunting task, you see, because both were the children of Refuge Managers. Lynn, in fact spent some of his youth at the Last Chance Ranch on the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in NW Nevada. Those who have been to that area know full well that it is still a pretty wide open and untamed piece of the world. The two would meet when Lynn's father, Ernie would transfer to the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma, where Judy's father was already on the staff.

So in the fall of 1959, this intrepid pair, along with their four year old son Mark, would arrive at Fish Springs full of enthusiasm and with only a little bit of shell shock at the facilities that awaited them. Their home would be a vintage 20' travel trailer. An identical travel trailer would serve as the office while an old surplus military single airplane hanger would serve as the shop. They started off with a drilled well and a 1.5 KVA gas generator! After a few weeks they would advance to the luxurious level of a 7 KVA generator and, at least when the generator was running, a pressurised water system and even got a septic system complete with a cesspool! Mind you, that they could only run the generator three hours each day.

Judy has related to me that during those three hours she would wash clothes like a mad woman, oftentimes to hang them out just in time for one of our famous west desert salt storms! When those infamous salt storms did come in, the left a fine layer of dust over everything inside of the trailers!

The cold front commeth!

And not a vacuum cleaner in sight!



The roads leading out of Fish Springs were, during those days, much poorer then what we know today. The Pony Express Road, at least that portion in Juab County, was particularly infamous. The sign below, posted at the county line in the early 60s when headed west on the Pony Express Road, pretty well sums up the situation! It is hard to read here but the top portion says "Juab County." The bottom piece reads "This Road Not Passable. It's Hardly Jackassable."

Only the intrepid beyond this point!


One of the ancestors of our "talcum powder" blowouts of today!


During Lynn's tenure, the Master Plan for the development of Fish Springs was completed under his guidance. This plan would ultimately be the guiding force behind the vast array of dikes, pools, and buildings that have served the Refuge so very well for nearly 50 years. It is a real twist of irony, that after all of the efforts of planning and overseeing the construction of the first two Refuge residences (and believe me it was a contracting and oversight nightmare for him!), the Greenwalts would only have the tremendous luxury of living in one of the new homes for a couple of months before the next assignment took them away. However, I'll bet after two years in a 20' trailer, those two months were absolute bliss for them!

A great advancement in progress!

Preparing to pour a water control structure

Many thought that Lynn was insane for taking on this assignment initially but he would respond by telling them that "The Manager finds the opportunity to pioneer a new area stimulating and challenging -- and a not inconsiderable honor."

In 1963, Lynn and his family would leave Fish springs for an assignment in the Regional Office in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There would be other assignments to follow, culminating in his becoming Director of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, the Department of Interior agency that would become U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. He would lead the agency from 1973 to 1980.

Lynn and Judy have returned to Fish Springs three times during my 18 years as the
Refuge Manager here. After nearly 50 years of having left Fish Springs and the west desert, it still possesses them. If you asked them of all the Refuges they grew up on and worked at, which is their favorite, they both still answer, without a trace of hesitation, "Fish Springs." It always makes me smile because I am among a very select few who really understand why.

Reslendant Raptors

This period of the end of summer and the beginning of fall is my favorite time of the year. There are many reason why this cusp of change appeals to me but one of my favorites is the annual raptor migration. Fish Springs and the entire west desert, serve as a path for an incredible diversity of birds of prey as they make their was south from various points north. Their splendor and sleek appearance are a true harbinger of the changing of the seasons.

I was reminded of this when I drove down to attend the recent water agreement meeting with the Governor which was held at the Border Inn. On the way down from Fish Springs, I noted seven different golden eagles. That is probably not too extraordinary in our west desert, where golden eagles are always present, but it still was an indication that young of the year fledglings and adult golden eagles are all on the move.

Here on the Refuge and in my fall bird hunting haunts in the woods, I have been able to note many other species. Perhaps the highlight of the season for me was the recent experience of seeing a peregrine falcon on the Refuge trying to carry off a large duck it had killed. I could not tell for sure but I am reasonably confident it was a hen mallard and that is a pretty large duck! It was all the falcon could do to get it a few feet off the ground and fly perhaps another 50 or 60 yards distant from my passing vehicle. We see peregrines on a regular basis during both the spring and fall migrations and they are a reminder to me that we can indeed recover many endangered species.

Other raptors noted on the Refuge in recent days include many sharp-shinned and Cooper's hawks. They tend to end up at the trees around the housing area or those at the Thomas Ranch Watchable Wildlife Area because being the only trees on the Refuge, that is where the song birds that provide their sustenance are. Almost every year I have been fortunate enough to see one of these beautiful accipiters take a prey bird in the housing area. It is a rare treat indeed to be witness to such nature in the raw!

When I was grouse hunting recently down on Thousand Lake mountain in southern Utah, I had the good fortune to see a goshawk, the largest of our accipiters. They inhabit the aspen-pine forest regions and it is an incredible site to see such a large bird power through the timber with such agility. I have seen then in the Deep Creek Mts. in the past and even encounter some once on the trail between the Wheeler Peak and Lehman Campgrounds. I once watched one fly to a perch and consume a ruffed grouse at the Gooseberry Campground over by Salina. They are simply spectacular raptors!

Just a week ago, I noted our first rough-legged hawk of the season. These arctic nesting birds come to Fish Springs to winter and prey on our bountiful rodent populations. They are the only common buteo hawk on the Refuge for the late fall-winter period. We do see red-tailed and Swainson's hawks regularly during the migration but they do not generally winter with us.

The true representative hawk of the west desert, the ferruginous hawk, is rarely found on the Refuge. They are very tied to using the desert uplands and juniper community and almost never forage on the wetlands of the Refuge. We do seen them very rarely on the Refuge uplands. Their scientific name, Buteo regalis, is well applied. This largest of most striking of our west desert buteo hawk is indeed a regal resident!

The smaller falcons, the American kestrel and the merlin are both regular visitors to Fish Springs during the migration. I always enjoy watching their often frenzied hunting behavior when they are after prey. Not much in the way of loafing time for these little dynamos.

The prairie falcon, the intermediate member of our west desert falcon complement, is a year around resident on the Refuge. For the past several years, we have had prairie falcons that favored to use the top of our two-way radio tower as a perch to view the area. When I observe this in December it always brings a smile to my face and I think to myself "There is the crowning angel on my Christmas tree!"

Bald eagles are perhaps the most sought after raptor by our visiting public. We only have them in the winter. On most winter days, one can find from one to as many as four or five in the trees at the Thomas Ranch site. Their number wax and wane during the winter, I think probably a function of how much winter we have. When it is mild, I think some leave to go to lakes and streams east of us to fish, their preferred foraging behavior. When winter intensifies and those areas freeze up, they come back to us to hunt waterfowl.

By far the most common bird of prey on the Refuge is the Northern Harrier, or for many of us, the marsh hawk. We have several pairs that nest on the Refuge and in the winter those numbers are swelled by quite a few birds that come to winter here. Their nearly ceaseless hovering and gliding about the marsh is something that can be observed any time of year and in any kind of weather.

In your travels about the west desert, take a minute to appreciate the variety of birds of prey you will encounter. They come because our habitats provide the basic element that are critical to sustain them. May those habitats always continue to do so for these long distance travelers.

Beetle BioBlitz

In mid-September, Great Basin National Park hosted a Beetle Bioblitz. During a 24-hour period, more than forty people traipsed throughout the park collecting beetles, searching a variety of habitats from 5,300 feet to 10,800 feet.

The event started with a beetle workshop, where participants learned some beetle basics.

Beetles belong to the Order Coleoptera, and there are over 12,000 described types of beetles in the U.S. and over 300,000 worldwide. Wow! This amounts to about 25% of all living organisms. Even more amazing--there could possibly be 5 to 8 million beetle species--many of them remain undescribed.

Beetles include some commonly seen insects like "ladybugs" and lightning bugs.

Although beetles have hardened forewings (elytra), they have a second set of wings that allow (most of) them to fly.

There are many other cool facts about beetles at Wikipedia.

Southern Utah University from Cedar City, Utah, brought a display case of beetles, some found in the area, but the more dramatic ones as examples of how different beetles can be.

Other participants came from Dixie State College in St. George, Utah, University of Nevada-Reno, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and Nevada Department of Agriculture.

Participants had to keep track of where they collected beetles on data sheets and label their vials so that the park could keep a record of them.

Different collecting techniques were used, from turning over logs and rocks to installing pitfall traps, where unsuspecting beetles would fall into a cup and be trapped. Light traps were quite successful, as were sweep nets that were brushed through grasses, shrubs, and trees.

Following collection came the really hard part: identification. Fortunately there were some very talented entomologists (insect specialists) who were able to get the beetles sorted down to family in relatively short time. One of the entomologists, Jeff Knight from the Nevada Department of Agriculture, took the beetles back with him to identify them down to a further level.

The preliminary results were 716 beetles collected in at least 30 families. Over 600 hours of volunteer time made it all possible.

The national park now has a much better idea of the beetles that live in it. Typically, insects aren't high on anyone's priority list, so this beetle bioblitz made it possible to learn a lot in a relatively short period of time.

Bioblitzes are becoming more popular throughout the country. It might not be long until one comes to a place close to you! And if not, Great Basin National park plans to have another one next year and you can come out and participate!

Raising Tadpoles

Our driveway during the spring rains 2009

A few months back, I wrote a blog about the changing night sounds in the desert. I bemoaned the fact that I never heard toads croaking or found them in my garden anymore.

After 3 inches of rain this spring, the toads have returned, at least for a short while. We began hearing croaking at night and it brought such a wave of childhood nostalgia that I began looking for toads. We found them in the borrow pits along the side of the road which were filled with muddy water from all the rain.

Every day, my husband and I would ride our bikes along the road, checking on the tadpoles, but it soon became a race between the diminishing water and the tadpoles' growing independence. It sadly became apparent the water was going to disappear before many of the tadpoles were sufficiently grown.

So my husband and I initiated a rescue operation for the tadpoles. From one of the vanishing pools of water, we filled a cottage cheese container with tadpoles and transported them home. We dumped them into a livestock watering tub we keep filled with water for our water-loving Black Labrador. (He didn't appreciate the tadpoles invading his territory!)

As a child raising tadpoles, I always collected them from moss-filled ponds and just collected moss, water, and tadpoles. The tadpoles fed on the moss and I never worried about feeding them. But this was a new situation as there was no moss - just dirty, brackish water. After doing some research on the Internet, we decided to feed the tadpoles frozen lettuce. The tadpoles burrowed down in the mud at the bottom of the pond during the cool parts of the day and night, but when temperatures soared to 100 degrees, the tadpoles swam to the surface and began chewing on the lettuce enthusiastically.


As the tadpoles developed, we needed to provide a place for them to move to land. Once tadpoles lose their tails, they tire quickly from swimming and need a place to rest close to the surface of the water. So we moved them to a shallow pond and built a mud bank for them.




The new little toads seemed grateful for any debris in the water, using it as rafts. The toads would be in the water for a few days and then disappear, supposedly into my garden. But I haven't seen any sign of them - just the pool slowly emptying of the fascinating little creatures.






So now the nights are quieter again, just a few croaks here and there. But I know there are toads somewhere nearby, even if they are small - and fragile, like our desert.

Migration Madness

Well, it is official. Fall is here. You might be thinking, “What is he thinking? It was nearly 100 degrees yesterday. It does not feel anything like fall!”

If you were in some are more urban then I am here at Fish Springs, it would be easy to think otherwise. But my many years of being here and tuning into the message the birds send is not to be mistaken. For several mornings now, the resident Canada geese and their rambunctious youngsters have been making pre-dawn flights of restless angst around the housing area and the edge of the marsh. The urge to move on among the young is not well understood by them but they are anxious nonetheless.



Our annual fall migration of shorebirds is largely past. It actually begins in mid-July and continues into mid-September. Most of our resident nesting shorebirds have moved out and I suspect that many might even be in Mexico or points south by now. Our long-billed curlews, the first of our nesting shorebirds to show up in the spring and the first to leave in the fall, are very likely ensconced the beach somewhere on the coast of Sinaloa in Mexico, the wintering site for most of the North American population of this species.





The annual fall migration of waterfowl is in full swing. It will usually peaks in September. Unlike, the northward spring migration, which is a much more leisurely process and where stops are keyed toward being able to stock up on high protein foods in preparation for the nesting season, the fall migration is fuel by advantageous weather events associated with cold fronts and by locations where high energy foods will permit fat layers to be added for the oftentimes long trip to follow. Many of the ducks that stop here to use the “Fish Springs Bed & Breakfast” will ultimately end up wintering as far south as the pampas of Argentina, a long haul by any standard!



This long distance effort to find a more favorable wintering area is not just the domain of wetland birds. While we often do not see large flocks, as is the case with shorebirds and waterfowl in the fall, our songbirds are also making the long distance run. We note them in the trees and shrubs around the headquarters, particularly when they run up against a strong south wind that is simply too much work to migrate against. They rest, feed up and then are gone with the return of a favorable north wind. Sometimes it seems they have either come or are gone “overnight.” This is in fact the case. Almost all songbird long distance migration occurs at night!

Birds of prey are also engaged in finding more southern climes but they tend to do so in an individual fashion. We see lots of Cooper’s and sharp-shinned hawks in the trees around the housing area and sometimes have even been privileged enough to see them take a bird to eat. It can be quite a chase scene, I think as exciting as any I have seen on the nightly news! Rough-legged hawks will make the long trek from the artic to winter here and our small nesting population of northern harriers will be swelled by migrants. In another 5-6 weeks, we will see the first of the wintering bald eagles show up. When winter is warmer, the bald eagles tend to leave the Refuge and spend time engaged in their primary feeding behavior of fishing on lakes and streams. When temperatures drop and those locations freeze over, the eagles return to the Refuge to forage on waterfowl until things thaw enough to return to fishing.




On Fish Springs, we find that migration is not even limited to just birds. Our small resident pronghorn flock, with us from late March until late October, will make their way to a traditional wintering area, we suspect north of us on the Dugway Proving Ground.

All of this migration madness leads me to believe that perhaps this proclivity for retired folks to want to be “snowbirds” is really just a return to some natural rhythm that we once new but have suppressed over the eons of being stationery for employment and family. You know, maybe some time on the Sinaloa coast does not sound too bad. Maybe those long-billed curlews are on to something………

Get Your Snake Valley Cookbook Now!

Right now there's an opportunity to get a piece of Snake Valley--Snake Valley culinary experience, that is! The cookbook Great Recipes from Great Cooks of the Great Basin is available, with a limited quantity available.

The recipes are laid out in an easy-to-follow format, and there are lots to choose from. Some have been handed down from generation to generation, while others are modern adaptations to please any palate.

The cookbooks cost $15 each, plus $5 for shipping. To order, email Ken Hill at kenfhill84083 @ gmail.com. (Delete the spaces on either side of the @ sign if you're copying and pasting the email address.) Some cookbooks may also be available at the Border Inn. Proceeds go to the Great Basin Water Network. They make a great gift and are a wonderful way to have a piece of Snake Valley in your house, wherever you live!

Family & Funds

Gretchen wrote an initial account of the first annual Snake Valley Festival and I'd like to add some thoughts on that event and the community that organized it.

I too, went to the Friday night feed in Garrison and had a great time! Such good food and such a delectable array of deserts! Ah well, one has to indulge sometimes and it was all so good. I got to see some old friends, met some new ones, and had a great time visiting the Garrison metropolitan area for the first time!

Later that evening, I enjoyed a bit of music and a touch of poetry in the sylvan setting behind the Lehman Caves Visitor's Center. Andy, just so you know that you were successful, I repeat, "Adam had em'!" Later, while camped a bit outside of Baker, I delighted in the light rain that fell. One has to have lived in the desert for a good bit to derive such enjoyment from such a simple thing as a bit of precipitation as deeply as we do in the west desert!

Saturday morning started with a wonderful cup of coffee poured by Terry Morosco at the Silver Jack and then on to the ample breakfast cooked up on the patio at T & D's. Again, moderation was not in the cards but hey, it was for a good cause!

After borrowing a table from Desert Survivor (thank you Gretchen!), I set up with Fish Springs literature for free and shirts for a reasonable financial consideration. However, some folks, who apparently knew that I had been afflicted with a disorder for buying books for a long time, set up right across the street and it did not bode well for my cash outlay. While I tried to stay over on my side of main street, it turned out I was not strong and in three trips to peruse the selection, I ended up with five books! I rationalized it by telling myself it was all for a good cause!

After being relieved for a bit by Brian Allen, my second in command here at Fish Springs, I cruised the other booths and ended up with two bird feeders and a big stockpot. I was beginning to wonder if the Prius would hold it all!

On to the silent auction where there was an amazing array of superb items. I bid on several in a spirited effort but alas, was eclipsed on every item! I sure hope the person that outbid me for those tasty looking jellys enjoys them while I do without!

The parade was a real highlight. My adopted retirement community of Torrey,Utah has a similar parade on the 4th of July and the small town touch they each have is priceless. No big floats for this parade watcher. I'll take two local water heroes in an old Model A and one big front end loader any day. This was also the first time I did not have to try and out compete all the short people for my favorite candy. I suppose if the Snake Valley Festival is an annual event, they will get the concept of scrambling for the goodies down quickly and this old man will be left in the dust!

The evening bar-b-cue and auction at the Border capped it all. Denys was a veritable whirling dervish and seemed to be three places at one time in orchestrating the evening and making sure everyone had what they needed. Kudos for such a stellar effort. The food was scrumptious and I managed the trifceta for showing absolutely no restraint in regard to consuming a prudent quantity of food! The auction was well attended and there was surprisingly spirited bidding for most items. Again, I was outbid on a couple of items but I'll just tell myself that I contributed to getting the final price up for a good cause!

The entire effort was a real tribute to a far flung but connected community. It is hard for those from more urban area to grasp when I tell them my "neighborhood" extends south to Baker and Garrison, west to Ibapah, north to Dugway, and east to Delta. Those who live in the west desert nod in agreement when they think of this. We are all connected by our passion for this wide open, spectacular, arid landscape and those bonds stretch over distances unimaginable to most.

The Snake Valley Festival was a true celebration of that community. We are all threatened by the efforts to take groundwater and while it has perhaps made many of those community bonds more visible to the outside world, we did not need the Festival to know they are strong. A goodly sum raised for the war chest and we had an opportunity to come together to celebrate our community. A grand time indeed! A tip o'the hat to all who worked so diligently to organize it and to all those who donated time, auction items, money, and sweat. I'll look forward to Snake Valley Festival II. I'll bet it will be even better!