June 2025 | Vol. 11 Iss. 6
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West Jordan
Exceptional educators
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West Jordan teachers recognized with awards
Organization spotlights Mental Health Awareness Page 6
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Understanding and protecting the Oquirrh Mountains By Peri Kinder | peri.k@thecityjournal.com
The overlooked peaks on the valley’s west side are being affected by growth.
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raming the Salt Lake Valley’s west side, the Oquirrh Mountains often take a back seat to the more famous Wasatch peaks on the east. Steeped in a rich history of industry, most people associate the 30-mile-long mountain range with the Bingham Canyon Mine, the deepest open-pit mine on the planet. As development approaches the Oquirrhs (a Goshute word meaning “wooded mountain,”) more people are discovering the recreation opportunities in those canyons, which some say creates an urgent need to address growth and preservation. A group of University of Utah researchers studied the history, environmental challenges and future of the Oquirrh Mountains, and presented their findings on Earth Day. Cait Quirk moved to Utah from the Pacific Northwest, where she worked as a mountaineering instructor. While studying at the U, she
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was excited to explore the Wasatch range but wanted to learn more about the mountains to the west. She was surprised by how little the Oquirrhs were understood by the valley’s residents. “I talked to people who had lived in the Salt Lake Valley for 20 years and didn’t even know the name of the Oquirrhs,” Quirk said. “How can that be? As soon as I moved here, I wanted to run and explore and ski in them.” She approached Dr. Jessica DiCarlo, a human geographer and political ecologist at the university, to see if she could spend a semester studying the Oquirrhs and why the range doesn’t receive the same interest as the Wasatch. Mara Scallon and Maddie Hill joined the The Oquirrh Foundation organizes clean-up events to keep the Oquirrh Mountains healthy
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and to bring attention to the range on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley. (Photo courtesy
Continued page 4 Bennion Gardner)