Volunteers needed at Great Salt Lake Nature Center

Photo by Charles Uibel ©2007

Farmington — Do you love the great outdoors? Would you like to share your passion with others?

A school field trip program at the Great Salt Lake Nature Center might be the perfect opportunity to do just that! Volunteers are needed to teach school children and other visitors about wildlife habitat and the importance of protecting it while guiding them along the center's new 1.5 mile boardwalk.

The boardwalk takes visitors through the middle of the area's wetlands. On Sept. 13, nature center staff will hold a training session for new volunteers. The training will be held at the center from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. The center is at 1700 W. Glover Lane in Farmington.

Justina Parsons-Bernstein, director of the nature center, says you can also help teach workshops the center offers. "Animal tracks and sign, the wide variety of birds that use the Great Salt Lake, and the Great Salt Lake ecosystem itself are among the topics you can help students learn," she says.

If you'd like to attend the training, please RSVP to Parsons-Bernstein by calling her at 801-589-2373. If you can't attend the Sept. 13 training session, contact Parsons-Bernstein to find out when the next training will be held.

More information about the nature center, including directions to the center, are available at http://www.greatsaltlakenaturecenter.org/ .


Seeing nature in a new way
The recently completed 1.5 mile wheelchair-accessible boardwalk was built by the nature center's staff, volunteers, colleagues and partners, including Utah Wildlife in Need, a non-profit wildlife foundation. The trail passes over four types of habitat: emergent marsh, riparian, upland and large ponds.

"The trail is beautiful," Parsons-Bernstein says. "And it's increased access and visitation to the 300-acre educational area near the nature center." Parsons-Bernstein says the nature center's field trip and workshop program helps 4,000 students and 500 Boy Scouts see nature in a new way every year. "And they learn to see nature in a new way in one of the most dynamic and beautiful natural areas in Utah," she says.