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The Uinta Mountains are a place of superlatives: This is home to Utah's highest peak, its largest wilderness area, and the tallest east-west mountain range in the lower 48. With extensive alpine high country and more than 1,000 lakes, it hosts wildlife including bighorn sheep, black bear and mountain lion. Little current data existed about the abundance of wolverines across the Uintas. Through a partnership with the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest and with support from the National Forest Foundation, ASC completed the Uinta Carnivore Survey in the summer of 2015, managing dedicated volunteers who monitored remote camera stations throughout the Uinta range. Get the full story behind the video on National Geographic and learn how you can become an Adventure Scientist by checking out our current projects. Writing and Photography by Dove Henry ASC Landmark Crew Member  The flatness gives way to more varied topography near the Missouri River, where glaciers and erosion have shaped dramatic shale and sandstone landforms. During the drive to the reserve from Bozeman, Montana, I divide my attention between the unfamiliar terrain outside my window and the atlas on my lap. Something about the western topography is harsh to my northeastern perception. My eyes are used to the Catskills, where old mountains have been worn into rolling hills and mixed deciduous forest covers most of the land, endowing the scenery with an indistinct softness. The Montana landscape is dominated by hard lines and sharp angles. The peaks are jagged, rising abruptly from plains so vast and invariable they are almost startling. My only experience of the prairie before coming to American Prairie Reserve was from behind a window, on the way to someplace else. I watched it go by as a golden blur when driving across the country. I have seen it on numerous occasions through the tiny window of a plane, from which it appears similarly void of detail. By Emmy Luenemann ASC Freshwater Microplastics Adventurer  Denali, Denali National Park, Alaska (Photo by Emmy Luenemann) Denali National Park is one of the most fantastic, awe-inspiring places in the whole world. Every turn, whether it’s on the road, the trail or the riverbed, is more spectacular than the last. I ventured to the park with my brother, Brian Luenemann, a photographer in Anchorage, Alaska, in September 2015 to observe and photograph the Denali wolves. During our last visit there in 2010, we were fortunate to view four adults and three pups for a few hours near the Toklat River. Just thinking about their haunting howls gives me chills to this day. Their population has been in decline over the past few years, and all we saw on this trip were some tracks on the East Fork of the Toklat River. |
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June 2020
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