GRBA's woodrat discovering the plethora of information in The Midden.
Emily Page Hale
The Midden is a biannual newsletter published by the Resource Management division of Great Basin National Park. Current and select past issues can be accessed from this page. For additional past issues, please e-mail us.
Strawberry Fire Restoration Recap
Post-Fire Bonneville Cutthroat Trout Recovery in Strawberry Creek
Strawberry Creek Birds, Pre- and Post Fire
Finding a Sense of Place
A Summer of Seed Successes
Exploring Ice Caves
Minerals and Microbes in Lehman Caves
A Winter in Great Basin National Park
Determining Dust Impacts on Great Basin National Park
Sounds in Lehman Caves
Snake Valley Christmas Bird Count Breaks Record
Monitoring Habitat Use by Rattlesnakes
Human Connections with Historic Cave Inscriptions
Mountain Pine Beetles Camping out near Wheeler Peak
Leave it to Beaver...Dam Analogs
The Highs and Lows of Monitoring Temperature inthe Park
Restoring the Sagebrush Sea, One Carbon-coated Seed at a Time
Fish Move Postponed
Bringing Fire Back to the Landscape
What's Dripping in the Cave?
Understanding Woodrat Distribution
Uncovering the Mystery of Cave Turnips
Meet the 2023 USA Cave Animal of the Year: Cave Crickets!
Geologic Fundamentals of Great Basin National Park Caves
Shifting Baseline
Hidden Stories of Snake Creek Cave
Life at the Top: Range Shifts of Four High Elevation Plants
Genetic Analysis of West Desert Bonneville Cutthroat Trout
Mark and Recapture Study for the Model Cave Harvestman, Sclerobunus ungulatus
A Closer Look at Nevada Primrose
Preserving Historic Lehman Orchard
Thinning Project Outreach
Results of 2021 Christmas Bird Count
Bats in Spring Valley
Lint Camp Recap
Mountain Lions are Keystone Species
Changing Faces: A Recent History of Snow Surveys in GRBA
Treatment of Baker Lake to Restore Bonneville Cutthroat Trout
Detecting and Forecasting Change in High Elevation Species
New Techologies to Help Win the War against Cheatgrass
Researcher Awards
Cool Bug Facts: The Pinyon and the Engraver
Lehman Caves Temp and Humidity before, during, and after Closure
Reptile BioBlitz Results
International Year of Caves and Karst 2021
2021 Reptile BioBlitz
Short Recap on Strawberry Creek Canyon
Nevada Bat Plan
A Peek Inside the Wheeler Cirque Glacier
Changes in the Park
Creating a Refugium of Bonneville Cutthroat Trout
A Season of Change at Baker Lake
Temperature Changes across an Elevational Gradient
Resource Management Videos
Highlights of the Hemiptera BioBlitz
New Virtual Tour of Lehman Caves
Reflections on 20 Years of The Midden
Bat Blitzes Show Many Species in Park
Lehman Caves Cave Shield Study
National Invasive Species Awareness Week 2020
Evidence of a Sulfuric Acid Origin for Lehman Caes
Where Did Lehman Caves Dirt Come From?
A Brief History of Great Basin National Park's Green Team
Making the Cave Less Green
USA Cave Animal of the Year
Nineteen Species of Terrestrial Mollusks Found in Park
Bonneville Cutthroat Trout Reintroduced to Snake Creek
New Nevada Book
Lehman Caves Geology Reveals New Discoveries
Strawberry Fire Burned Area Rehabilitation Plan Complete
Cave Management Plans Finalized
Christmas Bird Count 2019
Lichen Diversity in Great Basin National Park
SNPLMA-Funded Strawberry Creek REstoration Project Complete
2019 Snow Survey Results
Don't Move Firewood
GLORIA 2019 Update
Lehman Caves Geology Part III
Night Sky Assessment Shows More Light from Ely
What Happens to Small Mammals with More Trees?
Citizen Science in Action
Treatment of Snake Creek to Restore Bonneville Cutthroat
Three New Records of Stone Centipedes in Nevada
Introduction to Fungi in Great Basin National Park
Air Temperatures in Lehman Caves
Lehman Caves: Little Understood but World Class, Part 2
Utah Master Naturalists Help with Restoration
Townsend's Big-Eared Bat Research
Post-fire Bird Recovery in Strawberry Creek
Lehman Caves: Little Understood but World-Class Cave
2018 Beetle BioBlitz Results
First Season of Great Basin Wildrye Implementation
Walk on the Wilder Side
Lehman Caves' Shields
Lichen BioBlitz Adds New Insights into Distribution
Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) in Great Basin National Park
Upper Lehman Wetlands Restoration
Rattlesnakes Emerging Earlier Due to Warmer Temperatures
Monitoring & Treatment of Invasive Plants at Water Systems
Bats in the Basin and Beyond
Forgotten Grasslands: Basin Wildrye
Strawberry Fire Burned Area Rehabilitation and Restoration
Steps to BCT Recovery on Snake Creek
Stalagmites Show Drying of the Great Basin 8,200 Years Ago
Measuring Fuels in Bristlecone Pine Communities
Results of the 2016 Centennial Bird BioBlitz
Rare species Find Reaffirms Importance of Long-Term Research
Saving Bonneville Cutthroat Trout after the Strawberry Fire
New Wildlife Species Added to Cave List
Northern Goshawk Occupancy and Breeding Surveys
2016 Nevada Bat Blitz
Bat Research in Great Basin National Park: A Year in Review
Precipitation Record at Great Basin National Park
Bristlecone Cave Climate Studies
Winchester Model 1873 Rifle Found and Preserved
Land Mollusks of Great Basin National Park
Great Basin Rattlesnake Study
Natural Resource Condition Assessments
2015 Stream Insects BioBlitz Results
Introducing Sister Park: Toubkal National Park in Morocco
Quantifying Wildlife at Cave Entrances
Tagging Bats in Great Basin National Park
Figuring out How the Southern Snake Range Formed
Searching for Beetles in Great Basin National Park
Stories of Early Lehman Cave Visitors
Overview of Resource Management's SNPLMA Projects
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
Alpine Lichens and Climate Change on Wheeler Peak
Two SNPLMA Projects Finished
Park Partners with NDOW to Restore Native Fish
Wild Turkeys Present Study in Wildlife Management
Park Prepares for 2015 Bat Surveys
Sign In: The Writing on the Wall
Two Winter Lint Camps Freshen Cave
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Woodrats - also known as packrats - are the animals that create middens.
NPS Photo
What is a midden?
"Midden" is the fancy name scientists use for piles of debris that packrats collect near their nests. These piles are made up of seeds, twigs, animal bones and other materials cemented together by urine. Because packrat families will often build onto the same midden for hundreds or even thousands of years, they can be a treasure trove of information for plant ecologists, climatologists and other scientists who want to learn about past conditions dating as far back as 25,000 years ago! Great Basin National Park contains numerous middens. The reason we call our scientific newsletter "The Midden" is because it's also a treasure trove of valuable information. Check it out!
Last updated: December 12, 2024
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Contact Info
Mailing Address:
100 Great Basin National Park
Baker,
NV
89311
Phone:
775-234-7331
Available 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday.
Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day
