June 2019

Straw bale construction is happening in Salt Lake City It’s snowing. I have clay plaster in my hair, down my shirt, and up my nose as well as on the bale wall in front of me. Even mixed with hot water, the plaster is turning cold and uncooperative. And …

Citizen action group does end-run around bureaucracy to change pesticide laws In their nearly 30 years of existence, neonicotinoids have become the most widely used insecticide in the world, with registration in 120 countries. When first developed, neo …

Citizen action group does end-run around bureaucracy to change pesticide laws In their nearly 30 years of existence, neonicotinoids have become the most widely used insecticide in the world, with registration in 120 countries. When first developed, neo …

The Trump Administration keeps losing in court, and that’s a good thing for Utah’s public lands. In March, the Washington Post reported that in a rush for deregulation, Trump officials have failed to follow basic rules outlined in the Administrative Pr …

Utah artists and volunteers practice recycling/repurposing for art’s sake Dreams rarely make sense. But frankly, reality doesn’t always make much sense either. The planet’s garbage crisis is just one absurdity of reality that comes to mind. Why should …

In yet another show of bad faith toward American Indian tribes, interior Secretary David Bernhardt (replacing the disgraced Ryan Zinke) has appointed a Monument Advisory Committee (MAC) for the reduced boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument that is …

A look at some of Utah’s native bees Bees are crucial to almost every meal you eat, and are hands down the most important pollinators in our ecosystem. But the rampant introduction of honey bee hives over the last decade to “save the bees” is the equiv …

by Ellen Meloy, Torry House Press If you take a raft trip through Desolation Canyon, chances are someone will bring along a copy of Ellen Meloy’s book Raven’s Exile: A Season on the Green River (1994). Meloy (1946-2004) traveled down the river countles …

Conversation is more important than steering the beast Two months after I stopped driving, I decided I wanted to be a Lyft driver. I had taken Lyft a number of times and encountered a couple of interesting drivers. The first was an 80-year-old man who …

Atmospheric scientist Kevin Perry knows what blows from the Great Salt Lake Last year I wrote about dust that often blows in from the southwest, plaguing areas of the Wasatch Front (see CATALYST, July 2018). I wanted to take a closer look specifically …

Burr trail controversy resurfaces In April, the Bureau of Land Management allowed Garfield County to chip-seal 7.5 miles of a remote dirt road, reigniting a historic environmental controversy over who owns nearly 36,000 miles of dirt roads that cross f …

June 17-23 , 2019 is “Pollinator Week” and CATALYST leads the way with Bee Fest Saturday, June 15th, 9am – 2pm, at the Green Team Farm 622 W. 100 S. By now, you probably know we need pollinators—bees, butterflies and other insects, as well as some bats …

Clear information goes a long way to enacting a successful program You’ve got a recycling program in your workplace, but it’s got lackluster support. People aren’t certain what item goes where, with trash in the recycling bins and recycling in the tras …

In April, the Bureau of Land Management allowed Garfield County to chip-seal 7.5 miles of a remote dirt road, reigniting a historic environmental controversy over who owns nearly 36,000 miles of dirt roads that cross federal public lands in Utah. At is …

One problem with tourism is that it begets more tourism. Overtourism is not just caused by irresponsible geotagging or people trying to recreate Instagram photos. It’s also caused by irresponsible tourism promotion. Researchers at Utah State University …

A monthly compendium of random wisdom for the natural world and beyond June 1  Average temps: high: 78ºF; low: 54ºF; 21% chance of precipitation (average 1.4 in.). Sunrise 5:58am, sunset 8:52pm. June 2  Bumble bees vibrate their burly flight muscles to …

Back in 1935 Utah’s spring migration of Painted Lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui) was described as filling the air with a windstorm of butterflies, “the effect resembling an autumn day when the wind is whirling the leave about in great confusion.” Ther …

Osho Zen Tarot: Trust, The Rebel, Compromise Medicine Cards: Porcupine Mayan Oracle: Universal Movement, Greater Cycles, Lamat Ancient Egyptian Tarot: Seven of Disks, The Hermit, Justice Aleister Crowley Deck: Sun, Queen of Wands, Hierophant, Completio …

The Utah Legislature is failing to protect the environment, according to the 2019 Legislative Scorecard issued by the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club.  The scorecard rates legislators according to how they voted on 20 key bills. In a press release, Uta …

Nostalgia is a long soothing warm pool with a deep end full of non-vegan sharks. In fact, I think the sharks are paleo/keto and there is no lifeguard on duty. I feel the siren call to go to that end but on that end is my end. Is nostalgia even allowed …

The year 2020 will mark the 150th anniversary of Utah being the second U.S. territory to grant all women full voting rights. Wyoming granted women full voting rights the year prior, in 1869, but Utah women exercised their right first since Utah held tw …

You’ve seen the little lending libraries. Hopefully you’ve stopped at a few to browse the books available for the taking. Maybe you’ve even helped yourself to one or two. Couldn’t this model be used to provide other things to our community? Meet the Li …

The American Lung Association grades Salt Lake County “F” for clean air. As a whole, the Salt Lake metropolitan area (Salt Lake City-Provo –Orem) is ranked as the 8th most polluted city in the nation for particle pollution and 14th most polluted for oz …