The White Mountain Nature Center will be conducting weekly programs for the entire family on Saturday mornings. Starting times will vary, so be sure to call the Nature Center or check the website. The Nature Center regularly conducts educational programs for area schools and organizations, in addition to being open to the public on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 10am to 2pm. The Saturday programs include forest ecology hikes based from the Nature Center, Audubon led bird walks, Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, wetland wildlife, bee keeping and honey production, interesting reptiles, and kite flying of self-made models. Watch for an announcement on the Discovery Learning Camp program which had to be put on hold due to the pandemic. This nature-themed camp, if offered this year, will meet at the Nature Center from 8:30-3:30 Monday-Thursday. The Annual Wildlife Festival (September 4) draws a variety of vendors and exhibits, including presentations, displays and family activities. And don't forget about the good times at the annual Benefit Dinner on September 18 which is vital to raising funds for operational expenses since most programs ask only for donations.

Even sooner, the 15th Annual White Mountain Spring Carnival, also a benefit for the White Mountain Nature Center, will be at Mountain Meadows Park on May 27-31 including fun games and thrilling rides. Hogs and Hot Rods of Arizona will sponsor a “show and shine” event starting at 8 am on Saturday the 29th. Discounted tickets are now available at the Nature Center, Pinetop-Lakeside Town Hall, Chamber of Commerce, Blue Ridge schools and Larson Library.  

Rob Bettaso, retired Game and Fish biologist, leads monthly birding hikes in various areas around Navajo and Apache Counties on the 3rd Saturday of each month, as the White Mountain Audubon Society's Field Trip Coordinator. Since Rob likes to emphasize a quality experience where participants have the best chance of seeing lots of birds, the group sizes are limited on a “first register, first go hike” basis with no pets allowed. Experienced birders, as well as newbies have been able to increase their life list of birds seen on these hikes. Equipment is not provided so you will need to bring a pair of binoculars and enough water for a morning hike in excellent birding habitat. All hikes are free and open to the public. To register for a hike, you'll need to call Rob at (928) 368-8481 and leave a message.

To learn more about the White Mountain Audubon Society, you can meet folks at their monthly meetings at 6:30 pm on the first Wednesday of the month in the Pinetop-Lakeside Town Hall (325 W. White Mtn. Blvd.). You could also attend indoor slide presentations on the many species of birds found in our area held on five select Fridays, also in the Town Hall at 6:30 pm, between May 28 and September 24. These presentations are complemented by an optional field trip the following Saturday morning. For more information, contact Mary Williams at (480) 235-1792.

The Fool Hollow Recreation Area in Show Low, on the south side of Fool Hollow Lake, also had to suspend their Saturday outdoor educational programs last summer, provided in cooperation with the US Forest Service, Lakeside District. The schedule for 2021 is still tentative so check the Recreation Area's website below or call the Forest Service Lakeside District. The programs are held at the day use Amphitheater unless it's raining, when they will be moved to one of the covered ramadas. Entrance to the area is free when attending these programs.

For those of you out there with strong backs or lots of energy looking to be focused on something productive, the next couple of groups could fill that need. The TRACKS organization has been building hiking and equestrian trails since the late 1980's and the Arizona Game and Fish Department now has their total number of staff frozen even in the face of increased pressures on managing wildlife, such as providing water in a drought.

TRACKS is a volunteer group “dedicated to using, promoting, preserving, and protecting multi-use trails in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests of NE Arizona.” They work in cooperation with the US Forest Service to maintain and improve the non-motorized trails for equestrians, hikers and mountain bikers, called the White Mountain Trail System, most of which traverses the national forest. Their expertise and dedicated hard work has helped create over 200 miles of well marked trails through every habitat on the mountain, many with local historical significance. TRACKS and the Town of Pinetop-Lakeside provide excellent trail maps and GPS files that can be downloaded and printed or uploaded directly to your GPS through a USB cable to help you navigate your way and not take any wrong turns. The trails are also marked intermittently (about every1/4 to 1/3 mile) with diamond signs and letter/number combinations that act like highway mileage markers for navigation or emergency personnel response. 

The Arizona Game and Fish Department coordinates many activities allowing outdoor enthusiasts to get involved with wildlife management practices that can have beneficial impacts for decades. Volunteer opportunities may vary from helping haul water to wildlife catchments in remote areas, to removing old non-functional fences that have the nasty habit of entangling and injuring wildlife. If you're willing to travel to just east of Kingman, you can even get involved with looking for black-footed ferrets at night with spotlights. For those that have a birding background, they even need help conducting marshbird and other bird species surveys. To become a volunteer (and earn all that AGFD bling) check out the volunteer sign up website at AGFD below.

Some families may want to plan their own outdoor activity that helps wildlife. A potentially life-saving activity for eagles and osprey that find their food in our local lakes is to remove monofilament fishing line from the shoreline along with any lead weights. Every inch of fishing line you can remove will not end up in a local nest, posing a real and imminent strangulation hazard. Since you will be near the water and possibly rusty hooks, this is not a good idea for unsupervised and glove-less youngsters. Many area lakes have special receptacles just for recycling this fishing line, sponsored by tackle makers. Please do no not place regular garbage in these bins since there won't be room for any fishing line then.

So get the gang together, whether that be the family, friends, in-laws or litter mates, and find something to do to make up for everything we missed in the past year. There are plenty of kayaks to rent, trails to hike, worms to adorn a hook, and songbirds to karaoke with in our White Mountains. We better get out and take in the area's offerings before it gets any drier. Remember, it's never too early to start those monsoon rain dances!!

• TRACKS 958 S. Woodland Rd. Lakeside https://trackswhitemountains.org/ (928) 368-6700  ext. 3