GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL PARK, COLORADO

Late-afternoon sun spotlights Colorados Star Dune (North Americas tallest) while the distant Sangre de Cristo Mountains lurk in shadow

JACKSON BENTLEY: What attracts you personally to the desert?

I am now one of the specks climbing the dunes that I was from the trailhead an hour ago. Hiking to the top of North Americas tallest sand dune is an arduous task under any circumstances, but at least the going on this May afternoon is a little easier than it was last summer. Then, the sand was drier and softer, and the slog up 750-foot-high Star Dune felt Sisyphean, as my feet sank deep and slid a half step back with each stride. One thing is the same: the insufferable southwest wind. I turn my back ti it and wonder if it has slowed, even for just one day, in my absence. With so much sand swirling through the air, I cant imagine how the dunes remain essentially unchanged. Star Dune ( as I will later learn) neither migrates nor shrinks nor grows. Thats because the wind occasionally does change directions, blowing with great force through passes in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the northeast, piling the sand upon itself to maintain the tall, sharp dunes. Hiking down, of course, is easy. And fun. After only a few minutes of sliding, Im standing ankle-deep in the cold, sand-laden waters of Medano Creek. I turn to watch a few frolickers. They tumble downhill, then trudge up again. Its a ski resort without lifts or mittens. At my feet, the wide, shallow creek seems bewildered, changing not only course but also depth from moment to moment. It obstructs its own flow every few seconds with countless little dams, only to demolish the self-made levees and surge forward. Medano Creek is a true recycler, washing sand downhill to place where the wind can carry it back to the source, ensuring the dunes survival.

ACT ON YOUR CONVISTIONS

Rick Roth, Gloucester, Massachusetts; executive director, Cape Ann Vernal Pond Team

SNAKE CHARMER A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW ME as snake man now and dont know my real name. Ive always been a critter person. My mother was nerver afraid of amything, and I used to

actually get to keep snakes in the house. Im 58, so this was a long time ago, when nobody got to keep snakes in the house. Ive got 75 or so now at home-and a really cool landlord. I found out at a pretty early age that I would look at things like dragonflies for longer than most people, and then I would notice things about them. You look at a monarch butterfly, and its absolutely gorgeous. But then you look closer, and its got this jetblack body with white polka dots. Who thought that up? want I love to do is show people stuff that they havent seen before. Our team does snake shows to get people up close with the snakes. We also do nighttime field trips to vernal ponds. A lot of people have never seen well bet they havent seen, like, a thousand of them in one night or this wild breeding activity. Sometimes we bring a goldfish bowl out, especially if theres fairy shrimp. You get six or seven of them in the goldfish bowl and its an underwater ballet. vernal ponds usually dry up by summertime, and they have the unique ecology of being fishless. Theyre a lunch counter for wildlife-they may be one of the most important wetlands that we have, and yet theyre the last ones to get protected. Massachusetts was the first state to offer protection through a certification program, but basically its up to individuals to go out and certify more than 100 so far. The other piece is raising awareness. Every spring we get up to50 people to show up for our nighttime field trips, and thats another 50 people who are becoming inspired.