Not much in the way of news Friday on the controversial House Bill 187 which would limit river access on many Utah waters. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Ben Ferry, R-Corinne, did come before the entire House of Representatives but was circled, a tactic that will keep it alive for perhaps a vote week.
Meanwhile, according to Ted Wilson of the Utah Rivers Council, Rep. Ferry called anglers, river enthusiasts, real estate concerns, private property advocates, farm groups and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources together for a meeting Friday afternoon to find out if any compromise might be reached between the groups fighting on the legislation.
Many recreation enthusiasts seem to think the bill will be tabled this year and sent to a task force or interim committee for further work.
– Tom Wharton

The popular Moab Skinny Tire Festival is being held March 14-16. The three-day supported ride is a benefit local cancer research and treatment. If you have spring fever this is a great remedy and it's not too late. Visit the Skinny Tire Festival web site for more information.
-- Brett

Sad news from the outdoor industry community as SNEWS reports that Rob Hart, owner and founder of Crazy Creek, died last week after hitting a tree will skiing at Red Lodge Mountain. I, like many other outdoor enthusiasts, have several Crazy Creek chairs in my camping gear.
-- Brett

It's time to get out the hammer and nails for one of my favorite annual contests. The Ogden Nature Center is holding the 16th Annual Free Birdhouse Contest and Exhibit "For The Birds."
Give a bird family a cool place to live and show off your building skills at the same time. Entries, up to two per person and open to all ages, will be turned in March 30-April 4. The houses will be on exhibit at the Center April 18-Aug. 31 and winners will be announced on April 16.
-- Brett
-- Brett

I love it when readers e-mail comments and suggestions that never occurred to me. That's been happening a lot with the controversial Stream Access Limitation bill, House Bill 187, that has been working it's way through the Utah Legislature.
In response to today's story that revealed a possible conflict of interest for a Huntsville lawmaker who owns land on a piece of the South Fork of the Ogden River closed by the legislation to public access, two readers raised some interesting questions.
One “concerned fisherman” wrote that “just because a stream dries up in the summer does not mean it is not a navigable stream, and therefore does not mean it should be taken off a list of accessible streams. That's what Rep. [Ben] Ferry [the bill's sponsor] doesn't understand. The designation of navigable stream refers to the stream in its natural state – that's a national law thing. Streams that are low to no flow due to damming, irrigation or drought are still considered navigable because without those things occurring it would be a very robust river year round.”
Another angler posed this question:
“If our fishing streams are privatized by passage of HB 187, does this bill permit the landowners in question to legally fish the privatized streams even though the fish are state owned? Can the landowner in turn permit fishing to others and charge a fee if he so desires? Are the fish to remain state property or to also be privatized?”
Both comments are worth further examination.
– Tom Wharton

Scenes from Day 2 of the Ski Salt Lake Shootout. See previous post for details.
Picture 1 - Athletes Bryce Phillips and Cody Barnhill scope their lines atop Fantasy Ridge at Solitude Mtn. Resort. Adam Barker/Ski Salt Lake.
Picture 2 - Starting a snow fall at Solitude. Adam Barker/Ski Salt Lake.

Trib staffers Mike Gorrell and Francisco Kjolseth did a great job on this package about cat skiing at Utah's Powder Mountain
-- Brett

Raptor lovers like myself may want to check out the Raptor Nest Survey volunteer program through the Bureau of Land Management. Volunteers spend two field days per month from March to July observing an assigned site in Utah. There are no special birding abilities required. All you need is a pair of binoculars, a GPS unit, an e-mail address and to attend a training workshop that will be held Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Salt Lake Field Office of the BLM. Visit www.rins.org, send an e-mail to info@rins.org or call 801-977-4376 for more information.
-- Brett

Since government employees always seem to get criticized by the public while seldom getting praised, I'd like to say something nice for a change.
I was at East Canyon Reservoir Saturday chatting with John Sullivan, the park manager, at the fee collection station. A man came in to pay his entry fee and said he and his wife had driven two vehicles. He asked if his wife could park hers just outside the park. Sullivan told him to just take both cars in for one price. A few moments later, another park user came with a flat tire, the result of a slow leak, and asked where the closest shop was to get it fixed. Sullivan dropped what he was doing, had the man drive over to the park shop and used a compressor to fill the tire which, since it had a slow leak, would probably get the man home. All of this was done with a smile and the attitude of a person just wanting to help out.
I'll bet both park users left thinking Sullivan was a great guy and thinking that $5 to use the park in the winter was a pretty good investment. I know I did.
– Tom Wharton

A rambunctious crowd estimated at around 300 showed up at the State Capitol Thursday to voice their displeasure for HB187. Tom got some interesting comments from all the parties involved and and I produced a column and The Trib's master blogger has his take here. It was great to see the angling community, joined by the folks from the Utah Rivers Council and waterfowl hunters, united in this cause.
— Brett

In a time when the federal and Utah budgets are in terrible shape, why isn't anyone questioning the money being spent on a proposed pipeline to move water from Lake Powell to Washington, Kane and Iron Counties?
This project would ultimately cost Utah at least $1 billion, a sum that I strongly doubt water users will ever be able to repay. And the federal government is in on it is well. According to the Utah Department of Natural Resources, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved all 23 study plans related to the Lake Powell pipeline project. It will evaluate potential effects the project may have on resources including air quality, geology, soils, fish, aquatic resources, water availability and quality, wildlife, cultural resources and climate change.
Besides, in drought conditions,
“The approval of these study plans is an important milestone for this project and we are moving forward at full speed,” explained Eric Millis, Deputy Director of the Division of Water Resources.
In a time when the Colorado River is already overextended and when Lake Powell was at low levels only a year or two ago, there is the distinct possibility that this thing will be built, growth it will promote will occur and, in drought years, Lake Powell will be so low that there will be no water to ship. Then what happens?
Where are the boaters and anglers who screamed when environmentalists wanted to drain Lake Powell now? This is a far bigger threat.
Why waste the money? Kill this awful project now.
– Tom Wharton

The state has put its mercury testing on fish program on hold due to a lack of funds. Here's the Trib's story.
There is no doubt many more state waters have fish swimming around loaded with mercury, but anglers will just have to take their chances if they plan on eating what they catch.
-- Brett

In my Jan. 23 column I talked about a bill being cooked up by Rep. Ben Ferry that would undue a ruling by the Utah Supreme Court which clarified that the public has access to stream beds.
I ended that column, focused specifically on the impacts to anglers, with "watch for the bill and get involved if you don't think it's fair".
The bill - which will impact everybody from birders, to hunters, to kayakers - showed up last week and the response against it has been astounding.
I've watched anglers create uprisings in recent years over the Little Hole SITLA situation on the Green River and last year's Aquaculture Revitalization Act, also proposed as a bill at the Legislature.
Those responses have been nothing compared to battle against Ferry and HB187.
A new group - Utah Water Guardians - was formed and existing groups have united to fight the bill
Opinion pieces and letters to the editor have been printed and today the Trib's Editorial Board weighed in against the bill.
Letter writing and phone calling campaigns appear to be having an impact on Legislators.
Another chance to voice your opinion on the bill comes Thursday, Feb. 19, when a rally against the bill will be held on the east steps of the State Capitol. People are planning to meet at 10 a.m. and a press conference will start at 10:30 a.m.
-- Brett

For those who don't think viewing wildlife is romantic the Division of Wildlife Resources has produced this heart made of wild elk. The staff at Hardware Ranch dumped the hay at feeding time in the shape and waited.
Hardware Ranch in Blacksmith Fork Canyon east of Hyrum is a family favorite and more than 500 elk are hanging out at the ranch right now.
Horse-drawn sleigh rides through the elk are $5 for 9 and older, $3 for ages 4-8.
Click here for more information.
-- Brett

State legislators make a number of boneheaded statements each week. My nomination for the worst of the week goes to Rep. Christopher Herrod, R-Provo.
In sponsoring a HB272 that would among other things require the all-knowing Legislature to approve the designation of any scenic byway in Utah, Herrod came up with this classic:
“Scenic byways are being used to stop economic development, whether it be mining or other types of issues.”
Since scenic byways are designed to increase tourism by offering visitors looking at maps good ways to get off the interstate and examine less traveled beautiful roads that often lead to small towns which could use more visitation, they do anything but stop economic development. In fact, they enhance it. Some even come with federal dollars for interpretive signs.
But the “brilliant thinkers” in the legislature such as Herrod probably think that it would be fine to put mines, billboards or oil well drills all over a place such as State Highway 12 which ranks among the world's most scenic drives and has been featured in many commercials recently. No matter that these might hurt local tourism and the film industry or ruin some of the most beautiful vistas in the world. Do these people actually ever even visit the more scenic parts of the state?
The cynic in me thinks this bill, which would also allow more billboards, might have something to do with the Reagan Outdoor Advertising company that gave nearly $120,000 in campaign contributions to legislators this year and would certainly have something to gain if lawmakers changed byway rules which prevent the company's ugly signs from being constructed in beautiful places. Sounds like payback.
One more thing: Why does the legislature have to micro-manage everything in Utah government? Don't these people trust the many appointed boards and local governments to make their own decisions? In the crush of everything that happens during a legislative session, do these folks really have time to worry about the designation of a scenic byway?
– Tom Wharton

Some kind of ski movie is probably being shot every day of the winter along the Wasatch. Here's a twist in the filming. Derek Weiss of Piton Productions built a 17-pound, 6 1/2-foot loog remote-control helicopter equipped with an HDV camera. The copter was up on Mount Superior in Little Cottonwood Canyon this past week to shoot Flylow skiers Greg Steen and Jonah Howell. Powderwhore Productions was gathering footage for the new film "Flakes".
— Brett

The Sierra Club started making a concerted effort to bring hunters and anglers into the environmental fold about five or six years ago, a fact that drew considerable comment from the more conservative Republican-oriented parts of the hunting community.
I can remember a huge controversy in my professional organization, the Outdoor Writers Association of America, when the then president of the National Rifle Association leveled heavy criticism at the Sierra Club, basically warning hunters to stay away from the group.
Therefore, it was interesting to see the full page color advertisement the Sierra Club and Sierra Sportsmen took out in Wednesday's Tribune and Deseret News urging new U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to protect the West's big game habitat from what it calls “dirty oil shale development.”
The advertisement correctly stated that some of Utah's best elk and black bear populations are found in the Book Cliffs in Eastern Utah which would be a focal point of any oil shale development. It also warned that the water required to develop oil shale could also dry up limited water supplies in the West.
I t's an interesting move by one of the most “green” organizations in the country and one that more conservative hunters sometimes view with disdain. But putting together coalitions of hunters and environmentalists would be a strong group nationally if not locally where the Legislature seems to listen more to the more conservative leaning Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife..
As a side note, I've found it interesting that the largely apolitical Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation which has spent thousands if not several million dollars to preserve the Book Cliffs has remained largely quiet on the oil shale issue.
– Tom Wharton

My cohort Brett Prettyman made some interesting points in his Sunday Tribune column on how the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources gets only 11 percent of its funding from general funds with the rest coming from hunting and fishing license fees. Brett suggested those who enjoy wildlife watching without helping foot the bill for wildlife management need to kick in some cash too. That's a long standing and legitimate complaint from hunters.
But one point Brett did not make is that in difficult economic times such as these when all state agencies are facing potential big cuts, the DWR may be in slightly better shape because those hunting and fishing dollars can only be used to manage wildlife. So, while the agency could face big cuts in its general funds, the 89 percent of its budget that comes from license fees is relatively safe.
So, at least in this instance, having that dedicated and relatively stable source of revenue to manage wildlife is not a bad position to be in as the economic downturn forces draconian cuts in other agency's budgets.
-- Tom Wharton

Ever wonder how much Utah's state parks contribute to the economy?
The agency recently produced a brochure called The Power of Play that contained some interesting statistics. It claims that Utah's 43 parks and museum generate $6 for every $1 of general fund appropriations and host five million visitors.
Other notable statistics:
--$170 million was generated from state park day-use, camping and golf.
--$15 million is generated in state and local taxes by Utah State Parks visitor spending.
--$12.8 million has been paid to individual counties in 2006 as property tax for off-highway vehicles and boats.
--$363 million was generated from snowmobiling.
--$276 million was generated from boating.
While there is little doubt that State Parks will take a budget hit like all other state agencies, these statistics show the economic value of these facilities to the state.
– Tom Wharton