Timpanogos Cave National Monument

Sherma Bierhaus

Recipients of the 2011 NPS Environmental Achievement Awards

“Paa” ute means water ute, and explains the Southern Paiute preference for living near water sources. The Spanish explorer Escalante kept detailed journals of his travels in the Southwest and made notes concerning Southern Paiute horticulture, writing in 1776, that there were “well dug irrigation ditches” being used to water small fields of corn, pumpkins, squash, and sunflowers.

Visitors to Arches National Park experience natural free-flowing waters and have water to quench their thirst, thanks to an agreement between the National Park Service and the State of Utah.

Bats and caves go together in people's minds. National Parks are home to many important bat caves. But, bats are particular. Many caves only contain a few bats. Some bats like certain caves for raising their young and other caves for winter hibernation. Other bats avoid caves entirely and sleep and raise their young in protected locations in trees and rocks outside.

Enjoy a fun activity and learn about caves even when you can't get out to a park. In this activity you will build your own cave and learn how to make it like a "real" natural cave. Find out about cave formations and wildlife, and how to be safe and care for caves. New "Blanket Cave National Youth Parks" are springing up all across America! Join the fun!

Core samples were taken from two stalagmites and some flowstone in the Timpanogos Cave System to determine stable isotope geochemistry in an effect to assess whether Lake Bonneville produced lake-effect snow on the glaciers found within the Wasatch Range. Additionally, an attempted break-in damaged one of the entrance doors to the cave.

A long-term study in a Utah cave shows that people’s exhalations have measurable impacts on cave waters and the growth of mineral formations.

Across the US, changes in water availability are altering which plants grow where. These changes are evident at a broad scale. But not all areas experience the same climate in the same way, even within the boundaries of a single national park. A new dataset gives park managers a valuable tool for understanding why vegetation has changed and how it might change in the future under different climate-change scenarios.