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2009Nature Notes Vol. 9, No. 3 RH Final.Pub Zion National Park News National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Nature Notes The Lush Desert High noon. A blazing sun burns rippling waves of heat across the sandy earth making the distance appear almost fluid. Tumble- weeds bounce over the land past bare bones, bleached white, crisp, and brittle in the scorching sun. Flies buzz past. A small group of turkey vultures peck at coyote carrion. A dry wind blows any sense of well-being away, and even the air smells empty. This is the desert. What Mary Austin called “a land of little rain” is an environment that often seems forbidding. We perceive these lands with words in mind such as harsh, barren, unin- viting, and scarce. Yet in the desert that is Zion National Park, people have been living for thousands of years. The plant life in Zion, at first glance, may also seem harsh and mini- The abundant medicinal and edible uses of the prickly pear cactus and datil yucca hide behind the malistic—certainly anything but lush. In dig- plants' defensive spines and sharp tips. Photo by Sally Wier ging deeper, however, we see that these plants, so symbolic of the desert, are a key encounter with a skunk. The strongly candies, and syrups. Supporting pads of the part of what has made this place a home to scented smoke not only cleansed humans of cacti, though intimidating to the touch, are humans for so long. surface odors, it had the ability to cleanse the a rich resource as well. Once rid of their soul as well. Pungent smoke could be used to sharp spines, the pads can be soaked in Along the Wildcat Canyon Trail, off the Ko- clear the air of bad spirits, or pestilence, as water, split open, and then applied to the lob Terrace Road, stands of big sagebrush well as for purification in sweat lodge cere- skin to soothe wounds and bruises, acting (Artemisia tridentata ) cover the plateau, cre- monies. Heat, smoke, and scent. This vibrant in much the same way as aloe vera. A plant ating a sea of pale green. Rubbing the suede- plant shows me that the desert is potently that could leave your body punctured, sore, textured leaves between my hands, I smell alive. the vibrant fragrance that makes me know I am in the desert. This plant has been used Down in Zion Canyon it is late June. A few The desert is an incredible extensively by Native Americans for treat- remaining blooms color the flowering tops place of blooming, bursting, ments in both the physical and spiritual of prickly pear cacti—fuchsia, salmon, pale and thriving life. Rich se- realms. They spread powder made from yellow, and peach. Though seemingly a plant pounded leaves over rashes for relief. A tea best to be avoided, the cactus offers many crets exist in the landscape. made from the leaves was used as a strong rich edible and medicinal rewards to people. antimicrobial and disinfectant wash. Bending As the summer progresses and these bright and swollen upon a rough first encounter down to examine the trunk of the sagebrush, flowers wither and fade, the fleshy, sweet surprisingly hides secrets of relief beneath I feel its papery bark and think of fire. Native fruits of the cacti will develop and ripen. A its combative surface. people may have used the smoke of burning seasonal staple in many Native American sagebrush as an antidote after an unfortunate diets, the fruits have been made into jellies, -continued on page three Zion National Park Nature Notes 2009- Vol. 9 No. 3 What’s Blooming in Zion? Bighorn Business Rubber rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nau- seosus-Aster Family) is a shrub that provides It’s a sunny, sweltering day in Zion National across the New World, diseases carried by plentiful color on roadsides, trail sides, and Park. Rather than face the throng of visitors domestic sheep—influenza and pneumo- open fields in the late summer and early fall. overrunning the canyon, I find myself travel- nia—decimated the bighorn. Look for its golden clusters—made up of ing through the Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel to masses of tiny, tubular flowers—on the Pa’rus the relative solitude of the east side. My hik- Even after Zion National Park was estab- Trail and at the Court of the Patriarchs. ing partners and I have driven this particular lished in 1909, and livestock were removed stretch of road more than once, so instead of from the park, the sheep continued to de- Broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae - studying the intricate scenery of the slick- cline. Diseases could not be removed, and Aster Family) is plentiful along the Kolob Terrace Road, where it brightens the scenery rock terrain, we focus on finding something the last bighorn was seen on the Watchman beneath the charred trees and shrubs of a else—Zion’s herds of desert bighorn sheep in the summer of 1954. For almost 20 years recent wildfire. In places, it forms low, almost (Ovis canadensis nelsoni ). Suddenly my they remained absent but not forgotten. In perfect mounds covered with tiny, bright friend calls from the backseat, “There! To the ‘60s a plan to bring the bighorn back yellow flowers. the left!” Sure enough, high above the road moving nimbly across the waves of sand- Silverleaf nightshade (Solanum elaeagni- stone are the bighorn, going calmly about folium-Nightshade Family)—with its blue- In 1863, the bighorn began to their business as car after car drives by, un- purple flowers—provides a splash of contrast aware of the presence of these masters of decline almost as soon as set- to yellow flowers and coppery cliffs. Short hairs on its lance-shaped, wavy leaves give desert and rock. tlement started in Zion. the plant a silvery-gray color. Even though I have seen these animals many Remember, it is against park policy to pick times, I still feel fortunate to see them here. was developed and finally put into action in flowers. Please heed signs that say, “Stick to Bighorn sheep disappeared from this park the summer of 1973. That year, 12 bighorn the Trail,” and give plants a chance. over 50 years ago and would have remained were captured from nearby Lake Mead missing but for the hard work of nine differ- National Recreation Area and placed into ent federal and state agencies who brought an 80-acre enclosure in Zion Canyon. the bighorn back to their Zion home. Over the next several years they suffered The desert bighorn sheep is a subspecies of from disease, accidents, and battle wounds the better-known Rocky Mountain bighorn (the boys love to fight over the girls), but and has many of the same characteristics. the population grew until there were Zion National Park National Park Service Horns (not antlers) and a robust build give enough for a release in 1977. This release in U.S. Department of the Interior them the look of their cousins, while spe- Parunuweap Canyon ultimately failed, but cially designed hooves with “grippy”, leath- the next year the entire herd of 20 was suc- ery soles for traction allow them to move cessfully released into Zion Canyon. gracefully over terrain that would make even Nature Notes Editors: the most experienced hikers balk. Unlike An in-depth population survey hasn’t been their cousins, desert bighorn have many ad- conducted since 1996, but during the winter Robin Hampton aptations that help them survive in the hot, of 2008 biologists from the Utah Division of [email protected] dry environment of Zion. They are capable Wildlife flew over the park and counted 75 of surviving on the water contained in the Amy Gaiennie food they eat or in temporary pools follow- -continued on next page [email protected] ing a rain. They can often go for weeks or Thanks to our writers Barb Graves, Tim Lutter- months without visiting permanent water man, and Sally Wier sources. They can also survive large changes On August 1, 1929, the first issue of Nature in their body temperature and a loss of up to Notes was published. Written and produced by 30% of their body weight. the Education Departments at Zion and Bryce Canyon, its purpose was to provide information Despite these abilities, the bighorn were to “those interested in the educational opportu- nities, the natural history, the scientific features unable to cope with the overwhelming pres- or the scenic beauties of this region.” Eighty sure of Mormon settlers’ livestock. Almost as years later, Nature Notes continues this tradition soon as settlement began in Zion in 1863, the by covering subjects pertinent to Zion National Park and its employees. bighorn began to decline. Hunting was part of the problem, but the single biggest killer Bighorn can often be seen on high outcroppings was disease. Just as measles and small pox of rock overlooking State Route 9 on the east side devastated the Native American populations of Zion. Photo by Tim Lutterman 2 Nature Notes 2009- Vol. 9 No. 3 Dinosaurs in the Attic Back in 1981, on a hike up sun-baked Coalpits two. Grallator tracks are often attributed to Wash, I examined a rock about a meter in Megapnosaurus , a bipedal carnivore that diameter, jumbled in a talus of smaller red appears to have characteristics of both boulders. My heart rate bumped up a notch birds and reptiles. I can picture Megapno- at what I found: pressed in the rock’s sand- saurus trotting across the Moenave river stone matrix was a clear imprint, a track the plain searching for prey under a hot equa- size of a pot pie with three toes.
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