Utah State University master's research in Summit and Wasatch Counties, Utah
This page documents field activities, project milestones, and other updates regarding our study.
As of now, we have 15 cameras set up from Summit Park to Midway, UT. Although we haven't caught any moose on the cameras yet (it has been rather hot), we did run into a cow with two calves while hiking out to a site! Luckily, we saw them from a great distance, and left the site completely to give them their space. I came back a few days later and while I did not see any moose, I think I found where they were lying down. See my August 4, 2026 entry in the "Photos" section to check it out!
The first week of field work is complete! So far, we have set up 8 trail cameras on well-loved multiuse trails managed by Wasatch Mountain State Park and Basin Recreation. We're particularly excited about these sites because several of these trails have had documented moose-human conflict. These are prime locations for our study and we're excited to start getting some data!
All camera trap supplies have arrived and we are finally ready to start deployment. The first sites we are focusing on are in the Snake Creek Canyon Complex and the Pine Creek Canyon Complex of Wasatch Mountain State Park. We are focusing on these areas first due to the ample recreation opportunities as well as high volume of moose observations. Barring any decline in the weather forecast, we will have our first field day next week to set up the cameras.
Field season preparations are underway. Camera trap equipment has been purchased and site locations are being finalized. We're using a combination of iNaturalist, DWR moose-human conflict data, AllTrails data, and local news articles to find sites where moose-human habitat overlap has been documented. We are hopeful that we will have the study fully set up in July!