The following articles contained in this volume cover a variety of themes that focus on raising awareness of the importance of sustainable mountain development in the state of Utah and beyond its borders. Topics cover women’s issues in relationship to Utah’s political climate, the importance of family farming for mountain communities; the impact of climate change on different mountain regions; and the environmental effects it has in North America as well as in South American regions. Youth and the Mountains, Volume II is composed of the research articles of students at Utah Valley University (UVU) and the winners of the Utah High School Essay Contest that was a contribution to the commemoration of the 2014 United Nations declaration of “International Year of Family Farming.”

Our current publication continues UVU’s established tradition of engaged learning through complementing numerous practical actions and initiatives of the Utah International Mountain Forum, a coalition of its student clubs in the promotion of sustainable mountain development under the leadership of the Mountain Partnership that strengthens student’s research skills and potential.

                  Editor-in-Chief: Dr. David R. Connelly

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2015 Issue of the "Youth and the Mountains" journal