Author: Michael Engelhard Book Review by: Steve Dudrow Available for preorder in Kindle format and paperback now and coming soon to your local bookstores. Engelhard weaves the reader through many familiar places around the Colorado Plateau stepping past mere eyesight to bring life to the human and geographic story. His descriptions warn of seasonal fluctuations..
Gold Butte National Monument Names Project
By Frank Golden Have you ever thought about how natural features get their names? Why do some features get named while others do not? Who gets to name them anyway? Let’s try to answer some of these questions with the 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Where, and Why). And while we are at it, maybe..
Annular Eclipse on National Public Lands Day
On October 14th, 2023, something truly extraordinary is happening in Gold Butte National Monument that will make your visit even more memorable. As we celebrate National Public Lands Day, nature has an awe-inspiring spectacle in store for us – the 2023 solar annular eclipse. While Gold Butte is not in the direct path of the..
Looking for Love
Ahhhh yes, it’s that time again, if you are a male tarantula! Every year as we approach the cooler temperature of fall, millions of male tarantulas will begin their “migration” to find a female to mate with. Some may think it is all an elaborate arachnid romance, but the reality is that for most of..
Tracing Time: Seasons of Rock Art on the Colorado Plateau
Tracing Time: Seasons of Rock Art on the Colorado Plateau by Craig Childs Book Review by Steve Dudrow For us amateur archaeologists, who live and breathe to protect our pre-contact cultural heritage sites, this author’s narrative is like getting free Reese’s Peanut Butter cups in a candy store! With Childs, it is always about his..
How Do They Survive The Summer?
Have you ever visited Gold Butte National Monument (GBNM) during summer? There is no way to sugar coat it: to us, the heat is brutal and unrelenting! Now imagine that this is where you live. For the plants and animals that live in GBNM, survival depends on various physical adaptations and behavioral strategies. The key..
Help Protect Cultural and Historic Sites in Gold Butte
NVSHPO Regional Coordinators, Betty Conway & Michele Burkett Gold Butte National Monument contains a great number of cultural and historic treasures. If you have spent time in Gold Butte hiking you probably have viewed some of these amazing reminders of those who came before us. Unfortunately, these treasures are subject to vandalism, theft, and natural..
Prime Perseid Meteor Viewing in GBNM
It is almost that time of year for the much beloved Perseid meteor shower. This year it will be active from July 17 to August 24 with the peak around August 11/12. The “experts” tell you to look at the constellation Perseus as the radiant point, but I say just get your best lounge chair,..
Desert Adventure Preparedness
“Be prepared! A stitch in time saves nine. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Okay, we’ve all heard sayings like these, but do they have any relevance to Gold Butte National Monument (GBNM)? I would argue that they do. Even more so, than places like Zion National Park or Death Valley..
Winter Night Sky Photography
As winter approaches and the Milky Way core takes a vacation in the southern hemisphere our friend Dave Ward reminds us that “clear frosty nights bring out the brightest stars of the year to dazzle us”. One must say that watching Orion’s Belt rise just after dark in the east is awe inspiring and checking..