Work of Nature Conservancy on display
More than 40 people turned out for a public hike of Heart Mountain on Saturday. The event was sponsored by Heart Mountain Ranch and The Nature Conservancy to promote the conservation efforts on the …
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Work of Nature Conservancy on displayMore than 40 people turned out for a public hike of Heart Mountain on Saturday. The event was sponsored by Heart Mountain Ranch and The Nature Conservancy to promote the conservation efforts on the land.“I'm pleased with the way it turned out,” said Carrie Peters, who co-manages Heart Mountain Ranch with her husband Brian. “We had about the same number of people as in past years, and the weather was very nice for walking up.”Valued by The Nature Conservancy for the abundance of plant life on its slopes, Heart Mountain was in full display for those in attendance. Wildflowers adorned the mountain's lower slopes while experts were available to answer questions.“Plants like this,” notes Katherine Thompson, Northwest Wyoming program director for The Nature Conservancy, pointing to a small clump of plants clinging to a rock crevice on Heart Mountain's summit. “This is actually shoshonea, and it's pretty rare in Wyoming.”In addition to Thompson, James Altermatt, a habitat biologist with Wyoming Game and Fish, Brian Mealor, director of stewardship for the Wyoming chapter of The Nature Conservancy, and Rachel Mealor, extension range specialist with the Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service, were available to field questions on plants, grasses and invasive weed species.While many trekkers lingered on Heart Mountain's lower slopes, many others took advantage of the opportunity to walk all the way to the summit. The trail to the summit of Heart Mountain, built roughly eight years ago, is open to the public whenever weather and trail conditions permit, but according to Peters is probablly hiked by only 800 people a year. Many others come to ride on horseback around lower elevation roads on the mountain's slopes. “There's so much history here and Heart Mountain is such an icon, that I think it draws people to wonder about it,” said Peters. “We try to make this a day where everyone can go at their own speed and go as far as they want, but we also want it to be a day that people come away feeling as though they've learned something about Heart Mountain as well.”The public hike is an annual event, typically held each June.
Work of Nature Conservancy on display
More than 40 people turned out for a public hike of Heart Mountain on Saturday. The event was sponsored by Heart Mountain Ranch and The Nature Conservancy to promote the conservation efforts on the land.
“I'm pleased with the way it turned out,” said Carrie Peters, who co-manages Heart Mountain Ranch with her husband Brian. “We had about the same number of people as in past years, and the weather was very nice for walking up.”
Valued by The Nature Conservancy for the abundance of plant life on its slopes, Heart Mountain was in full display for those in attendance. Wildflowers adorned the mountain's lower slopes while experts were available to answer questions.
“Plants like this,” notes Katherine Thompson, Northwest Wyoming program director for The Nature Conservancy, pointing to a small clump of plants clinging to a rock crevice on Heart Mountain's summit. “This is actually shoshonea, and it's pretty rare in Wyoming.”
In addition to Thompson, James Altermatt, a habitat biologist with Wyoming Game and Fish, Brian Mealor, director of stewardship for the Wyoming chapter of The Nature Conservancy, and Rachel Mealor, extension range specialist with the Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service, were available to field questions on plants, grasses and invasive weed species.
While many trekkers lingered on Heart Mountain's lower slopes, many others took advantage of the opportunity to walk all the way to the summit. The trail to the summit of Heart Mountain, built roughly eight years ago, is open to the public whenever weather and trail conditions permit, but according to Peters is probablly hiked by only 800 people a year. Many others come to ride on horseback around lower elevation roads on the mountain's slopes.
“There's so much history here and Heart Mountain is such an icon, that I think it draws people to wonder about it,” said Peters. “We try to make this a day where everyone can go at their own speed and go as far as they want, but we also want it to be a day that people come away feeling as though they've learned something about Heart Mountain as well.”
The public hike is an annual event, typically held each June.