Mother Nature is a tease. Just enough snow fell to get everybody amped for an early and long ski season and then she turns off the tap. That being said, some Utah resorts are open this Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the traditional opening of ski season.
Here's a list from Ski Utah with those open resorts and opening dates for the others.
Alta OPEN
Beaver Mtn TBA
Brian Head OPEN
Brighton OPEN
The Canyons Dec 5
Deer Valley Dec 6
Park City Mtn Nov 28
Powder Mtn TBA
Snowbasin Dec 5
Snowbird OPEN
Solitude OPEN
Sundance Dec 5
Wolf Creek UT Nov 28
— Brett

Thank goodness the Bureau of Land Management in Utah finally came to its senses and, listening to an outcry from Moab residents, environmental organizations, Congress, the incoming Obama Administration and the National Park Service, will not issue drilling leases in a Moab residential area, on the road to Dinosaur National Monument and on lands visible from the Delicate Arch and Canyonlands National Park.
What's more, according to a story by The Tribune's Patty Henetz, the BLM's Utah office may further trim the list of oil- and gas-leases beyond the national parks. Let's hope that includes the corridor near Desolation Canyon, one of the most scenic stretches of river running territory in the lower 48 states.
Environmental groups are still not happy with some of the leases that are being issued so the battle is not over. But it is an important small victory that the BLM backed down, a nice pre-Thanksgiving Day surprise.
– Tom Wharton

The future of the Future Fisherman Foundation looks bleak.
The Foundation's board of directors recently announced that unless alternative funding or donations are received, the future of the 20-year-old program is in doubt. The foundation has worked to introduce angling to nearly one million people with programs such as Hooked on Fishing Not on Drugs, after school Physh Ed and agreements with boys and girls clubs throughout the country. Some of these programs have been available in Utah.
The financing problem is a reflection of the economy.
The American Sportfishing Association passed a motion to suspend its core support for the Foundation effective March 31, 2009, because of the loss of one of the group's two main grant funding sources. The group issued a statement saying that “with the financial challenges facing our economy, the board determined that ASA could no longer continue its financial support of the foundation.”
Still, the Future Fisherman Foundation is not giving up and will be looking for alternate funding options.
“Over the next three months, we are aggressively seeking support from endemic and non endemic funding sources, grants, and partnerships with new organizations within our industry that share our mission to engage youth in outdoor and angling activities,” said foundation Executive Director Anne Danielski.
She asked supporters to “Please help us sustain our programs so that the foundation can continue to play a pivotal role in facilitating opportunities for children, families and communities to experience the joys of fishing while fostering environmental stewardship.”
For more information on the foundation’s initiatives or to make a charitable donation to help ensure the future of fishing, visit the foundation’s Web site at www.futurefisherman.org.
At a time when tackle manufacturers need all the new business they can find, this seems like a shortsighted decision. Then again, in this economy, deciding to keep employees and health insurance means many company's are being forced to make difficult decisions.
– Tom Wharton

Outdoor Life magazine also honored Utah Division of Parks and Recreation off-highway vehicle safety coordinator Ann Evans as one of The Outdoor Life 25 Men and Women Who Have Changed the Face of Hunting and Fishing.
Ann was one of the first female park rangers in Utah before switching to the Division of Wildlife Resources where she served as the aquatic education coordinator where she taught fishing basics.
She then took her current position with the Division of Parks and Recreation. While summer ATV use in Utah has increased 225 percent in recent years, accident rates are down 40 percent due to mandatory youth education.
Outdoor Life also praised Evans for becoming a certified CPR training and for training hundreds of staffers and saving not only Utah thousands of dollars but lives as well.
It is a real honor for two Utahns – Don Peay of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife was also selected – to be picked on this list of only 25 which includes so many big names across the country. Congratulations to both Ann and Don.
– Tom Wharton

Given the confusion of dueling federal court orders from Washington, D.C., and Wyoming in recent weeks, it will be a wonder if anyone figures out what the rules governing snowmobile and snowcoach use of Yellowstone Park are this winter.
First, a federal judge in Washington D.C. rejected the park's latest winter use plan in September. That prohibited snowmobile and snowcoach access without a new regulation. In response, the National Park came up with a temporary plan to get the park open on schedule Dec. 15 as scheduled.
Under that rule, 318 commercially guided, best available technology (BAT) snowmobiles and 78 commercially guided snowcoaches a day would have been allowed.
Then, in a related federal case, a federal judge in Wyoming on Nov. 7 ordered the park service to reinstate the 2004 rule which allows up to 720 commercially guided BAT snowmobiles and up to 78 snowcoaches allowed into Yellowstone per day this winter. That's the rule today, though I wouldn't hold my breath too much. Expect someone to file a lawsuit to change it.
During the last two winters, the park service reports an average of about 296 snowmobiles a day entered Yellowstone. The park's peak day was last winter was 557 snowmobiles.
The debate over snowmobile use in the park has been bitter with environmentalists wanting snowcoaches only pitted against commercial interests and snowmobile organizations who want more snowmobiles in the park.
Glad I don't run a snowmobile business or hotel in West Yellowstone. The constant confusion coupled with the lousy economy may make many question the viability of a winter vacation into the park.
– Tom Wharton

Utah's Don Peay, founder of the influential Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, was named as one of the 25 men and women who have changed the face of hunting and fishing in the December/January issue of Outdoor Life Magazine. The group includes Homer Circle, Bill Jordan, Johnny Morris and Joan Wulff among others.
Peay was listed in the “Conservationists” section of the cover store. He said he considers he greatest achievement the organization's public rangeland restoration effort which converts weeds and timber into diverse habitat for wildlife. To date, the program has treated some 500,000 acres in Utah and is spreading to other states.
Don can be controversial and I certainly have had disagreements with him over the years. But this is a well deserved honor for a hard working native Utahn and congratulations are certainly in order.
– Tom Wharton

The long-feared, but much expected arrival of zebra and quagga mussels is confirmed. The DWR sent out a release late yesterday confirming the presence of zebra mussels in Electric Lake. Here's a quicky web story. There will be a longer story later.
The video is a DWR PSA on how to avoid transporting the pesky creatures.
— Brett

Creature features are among my favorites to do and Sunday's story on pikas in Utah was no exception. We had a great time on Bald Mountain looking for the little guys and it was fun talking to the different sources about the high-elevation specialists.
— Brett

The fishing community lost one of its best Thursday when Denny Breer, owner of Trout Creek Flies in Dutch John, passed away at his home while working on a coop for his beloved pigeons.
Few did more to protect the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam. Denny was the voice of reason, the anglers and the fish at Bureau of Reclamation meetings regarding the flows on the world-famous fishery.
Denny was a kindhearted man who worked hard to make a living doing what he loved. He had a large and loyal group of guides which many consider the best on the river. I'll write more about Denny in an upcoming column. The best tribute I can think of now is a multimedia photographer Steve Griffin and I did in the fall of 2007 on Wild and Scenic Rivers. Again, Denny was the voice of reason in a complex issue.
"Rivers are a precious commodity . . . they aren't making any more of them. I want my granddaughter's children and their grandchildren to have the same opportunity to experience the Green River like I have. A lot of people take rivers for granted and we just can't do that," he told me.
Here's a link to that story, make sure to click on the multimedia and you'll be able to hear his passion for the river....
The picture here was taken during that trip. That's me with a fish on with Denny behind the oars. That's the way I'll remember Denny: on the river...
UPDATE: Denny's funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 10, at the LDS church in Dutch John.
— Brett

For those anglers, who like me, have developed an affinity for tiger musky, there is some more bad news. Efforts to secure a clean source of musky have failed. The warmwater hatchery is in place, the pike have been brought up from Recapture, but the musky remain the missing ingredient.
— Brett

How much damage can the Bush Administration do to Utah's public lands before it leaves office in January? And will the incoming Obama administration be able to change some of the more odious public lands decisions being made now?
Between management plans for BLM lands that favor oil drilling and off-road vehicle interests instead of preservation and new drilling leases issued that could adversely impact special Utah places such as Desolation Canyon and Dinosaur National Monument, recent Utah BLM decisions have been a disaster.
This isn't multiple use of public lands. It's multiple rape with little consideration to long-term consequences to Utah's tourism industry or to conserving some of these resources for the future.
There is little in the way of balance. In its rush to issue drilling permits, the Utah BLM seemed to not even be able to specify where some of the 241 proposed oil and gas parcels are located.
Want to be frightened? Read Patty Henetz's story in Wednesday's Salt Lake Tribune about the opening up of nearly 360,000 more acres of Utah public lands to oil and gas drilling despite a recent report by the Government Accountability Office questioning why the BLM continues to offer so many leases when so few are ever developed.
The answer to that might be that the Bush Administration lackeys within an agency that has been mockingly referred to as "the Bureau of Livestock and Mining" for years must rush to get as many leases as possible issued before a new administration is named.
Those who want more balance can only hope that President Obama picks an environmentally oriented person such as Robert Kennedy, Jr., to head the Department of Interior or a guy like New Mexico's Jim Baca to lead the BLM.
-- Tom Wharton

Barack Obama you just won the presidential election. What are you going to do now?
"Hit the powder at Snowbird, of course".
Taking advantage of 3-feet of freshie, Obama and his opponent, John McCain, hit the slopes at Snowbird Wednesday. Well, at least likenesses of the two men.
Snowbird will make its second earliest opening ever Friday, yes Nov. 7. Ski Utah reports that other resorts are considering opening next week.
— Brett

The fall is a good time seek big fish in Utah and the West. I had the pleasure last week of tagging along with my buddy Brent Stout for his now annual fly-fishing excursion to Bear Lake to fish for lake trout. We were on the water before the sun came up. I only managed a 10-pound carp, but Brent hooked into this 28-inch laker with his 8-weight fishing in 12-18 feet of water. I was trying to unhook my catch without touching it when Brent hooked up, so Brandon Thomas was holding the camera and managed this cool release video. The same day a story about a monster brown caught in Montana by a Utah fly guy started making the fishing circles.
— Brett

After a federal judge in Washington, D.C., threw out the 2008-2009 winter use plan for Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks in September, National Park Service officials have been trying to come up with an alternative so the season can open as planned Dec. 15.
That plan was announced on Nov. 3. According to the National Park Service, the preferred alternative would allow up to 318 commercially guided Best Available Technology snowmobiles and up to 78commercially guided snowcoaches a day at Yellowstone. It would also provide for motorized oversnow travel over Sylvan pass and
Yellowstone's East Entrance road.
The daily snowmobile limit is slightly above last winter's average of 294 snowmobiles a day and is well below the 720 a day allowed the past four winters and lower than the 540 snowmobiles a day that would have been allowed under the plan rejected by the court. The daily snowcoach number remains the same. In Grand Teton and the John D. Rockefeller Jr., Memorial Parkway, grooming and motorized oversnow travel on the Continental Divide Snowmobile Trail between Moran Junction and Flagg Ranch would be discontinued,
The plan would be in effect for three years.
The comment period is Nov. 17. Written comments can be submitted on the web at parkplanning.nps.gov, in person or by mail. Comments will not be accepted by phone, fax or e-mail.
It will be interesting to see if this plan passes muster with snowmobile groups and environmentalists who have been battling over snowmobiling in Yellowstone for years.
– Tom Wharton

The Tribune posted Governor Jon Huntsman's new Off-Highway Vehicle public service announcements over the weekend. The "Protect Your Privilege — Stay on Trails" campaign is a good one. Take a look.
— Brett