Bill Wolverton digital photograph collection
Collection
Identifier: P0796
Scope and Contents
The collection was scanned 35mm slides that were retuned to Bill. Caption information was proved by Bill in 2014.
All photos need to credit Bill Wolverton as the photographer
All photos need to credit Bill Wolverton as the photographer
Dates
- 1940-2008
Creator
- Wolverton, Bill (Person)
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
Conditions Governing Use
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from the Bill Wolverton digital photograph collection must be obtained from the Special Collections Manuscript Curator.
Permission to publish material from the Bill Wolverton digital photograph collection must be obtained from the Special Collections Manuscript Curator.
Historical Note
Making An Impact: Bill Wolverton, a National Park Service ranger stationed at Glen Canyon, has made it his personal mission
Bill Wolverton first came to the canyon country of southern Utah in teh 1970s and 1980s drawn like so many others by the rugged, desolate beauty of the Colorado Plateau, its vast expanses and twisting, labyrinth rock formations.
Unlike most tourists who pass through, Wolverton was so entranced by the place that he went home to Sacramento, chucked his job as a mechanical engineer and returned to live in this little town, located at the intersection of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
Along the way he took up a cause — which has since blossomed into a full–fledged obsession.
Becoming a National Park Service ranger stationed at Glen Canyon, Wolverton declared his own personal war on the invasive plant species that have slowly overtaken the rivers, streams and washes of Utah’s redrock country during the last 15 years. Where cottonwoods and willows once stood, tamarisk shrubs and Russian olive trees now thrive, sucking up vast amounts of water, crowding out the native plant species and threatening the wildlife that depends on them.
But Wolverton has made his mark. Glen Canyon botanist John Spence estimates that working solo and in tandem with others, Wolverton has cleared 31 miles of the Escalante River corridor of Russian olive and tamarisk over the last decade, replacing them with native cottonwoods and willows.
Wolverton says there is no longer any debate over the severity of the Russian olive problem in the Escalante canyons. Photos he took during his first visit to the region in 1980 reveal no Russian olive; snapshots taken later in the decade, after his relocation to southern Utah, show it creeping in. Now, the Escalante River and the streams that feed it are overwhelmed by it.
histotical note taken from "Invasive Weeds Threaten NAtive Specied and Cause Havoc" by Joe Baird, 2006
Bill Wolverton first came to the canyon country of southern Utah in teh 1970s and 1980s drawn like so many others by the rugged, desolate beauty of the Colorado Plateau, its vast expanses and twisting, labyrinth rock formations.
Unlike most tourists who pass through, Wolverton was so entranced by the place that he went home to Sacramento, chucked his job as a mechanical engineer and returned to live in this little town, located at the intersection of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
Along the way he took up a cause — which has since blossomed into a full–fledged obsession.
Becoming a National Park Service ranger stationed at Glen Canyon, Wolverton declared his own personal war on the invasive plant species that have slowly overtaken the rivers, streams and washes of Utah’s redrock country during the last 15 years. Where cottonwoods and willows once stood, tamarisk shrubs and Russian olive trees now thrive, sucking up vast amounts of water, crowding out the native plant species and threatening the wildlife that depends on them.
But Wolverton has made his mark. Glen Canyon botanist John Spence estimates that working solo and in tandem with others, Wolverton has cleared 31 miles of the Escalante River corridor of Russian olive and tamarisk over the last decade, replacing them with native cottonwoods and willows.
Wolverton says there is no longer any debate over the severity of the Russian olive problem in the Escalante canyons. Photos he took during his first visit to the region in 1980 reveal no Russian olive; snapshots taken later in the decade, after his relocation to southern Utah, show it creeping in. Now, the Escalante River and the streams that feed it are overwhelmed by it.
histotical note taken from "Invasive Weeds Threaten NAtive Specied and Cause Havoc" by Joe Baird, 2006
Extent
253 digital images
Abstract
The
Bill Wolverton digtial photograph collection
contains mostly images of the Glen Canyon and Lake Powerll area, showing various water levels, invasive species like Russian Olive and other effects of the reservoir over time.Also included are a small number of images related to the railroad.
Arrangement
by subject and folder
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Bill Wolverton in 2014.
Processing Information
Processed by Photo Archives Staff .
Creator
- Wolverton, Bill (Person)
- Title
- Guide to the Bill Wolverton digital photograph collection, 1940-2008
- Author
- Finding aid created by Sara Davis
- Date
- 2015
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid encoded in English in Latin script.
Repository Details
Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository
Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu