If you have traveled in southeastern Utah you have heard the story of Everett Ruess. Many have speculated what happened to Ruess. Now, it looks like there may be an answer. Read Ben Fulton's story about a soon to-be-released article about how the mystery may have been solved.
-- Brett

In the honor of spring and the inevitable urge to get on your bike and ride I'm including a cool vid of Danny MacAskill playing around. In light of the recent rash of auto-cycling incidents in Utah I implore riders to keep an eye on each other and for drivers to be rider aware. Safe riding to all.
— Brett

Good Earth Day news came out of Washington, D.C.
As part of a large investment in national parks, the Dinosaur National Park Quarry Visitor Center near Jensen that has been closed since July of 2006 due to safety and structural concerns will be rebuilt for $13 million.
Thank goodness.
Though Dinosaur has much to offer in the way of scenery, river rafting and history, the exposed bones in the quarry were always its big draw and one of the most unique exhibits of its kind anywhere in the world. It's been missed by the thousands of families who enjoy visiting Utah's many dinosaur museums and outdoor attractions.
Soon it will be possible to enjoy the quarry again, coupling it with a visit to the excellent Utah Fieldhouse of Natural History in Vernal and then making the Drive Through the Ages from Vernal to Flaming Gorge.
– Tom Wharton

I sure hope the residents and recreationists who use Salt Lake City's City Creek Canyon knew what they were doing when their protests caused the cancellation of a program to create a 100-foot firebreak.
Nobody wants to see one of the Salt Lake Valleys prettiest and most pristine hiking, biking, fishing and picnic areas ruined. But considering the fact that a blaze last summer near the canyon threatened homes, perhaps the firebreak was a good idea.
If, God forbid, a fire would to roar down City Creek Canyon in the next few years and threaten homes in the area, we wonder if residents whose homes could be in the path of the flames might wonder if their opposition to the firebreak was such a good idea.
And, while fire is a natural part of the ecosystem, such a fire would also blacken much of the scenery recreators who were against the firebreak enjoy. And what about protecting an important part of Salt Lake City's water supply from potential damage of slides should fire destroy vegetation on the sides of the narrow canyons?
I guess I have enough faith in those who manage the canyon to think that a viable firebreak could have been constructed that would have preserved the beauty of the place while still protecting homes, property, water supplies and perhaps even lives.
You have to hope that a fire won't roar through the canyon but, if it does and damages homes in the area, we would do well to remember that many in the area opposed the firebreak.
– Tom Wharton

One of the first feature stories I did with the Salt Lake Tribune was on what was then known as the Park City Handicapped Sports Association. The name of the organization eventually changed to the National Abilities Center. I've done several other stories on NAC through the years and it has been incredible to watch as the program has grown from providing only skiing to equestrian events and now the new compound in Park City. The amazing number of people with disabilities, and just importantly their families, served by NAC is a tribute to founder Meeche White. Check out this video and you will get a feeling for what the National Abilities Center is all about.

-- Brett

All those people with silly shots of themselves playing Twister to get a body part in four states at once are about to be very disappointed. According to the National Geodetic Survey, the Four Corners marker showing the intersection of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah is about 2.5 miles west of where it should be.
— Brett

You have to wonder what Utah senators Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch thought would happen when a majority of Americans elected Barack Obama president and, in the process, repudiated many of the more obnoxious policies fostered by George Bush's Department of Interior as well as the Republican ticket's repeated campaign mantra of “Drill Baby, Drill!”
So now the two are doing everything possible to stall Obama appointments in the Department of Interior. This should be of major concern to outdoor enthusiasts, hunters, anglers and public land users looking forward to a change of management in the agency that manages millions of acres of public lands they use for recreation.
It seems the senators remain upset that new Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar cancelled 77 highly questionable oil and gas leases on Utah's public lands offered in the Bush Administration's dying days, some of them near some of the state's most beautiful outdoor treasures.
So, in a snit, Bennett has placed a hold on the nomination of David Hayes as deputy secretary, a move that is supported by Hatch. In fact, according to a story by The Tribune's Thomas Burr, 10 key Interior officials have yet to be confirmed and no one has even been dominated to head the Bureau of Land Management.
What is the purpose of such a hold? Do Bennett or Hatch honestly think that President Obama and Salazar are actually going to change their positions on public land management because of their obstructionist position? And can you imagine what Utah's two long-serving senators would have had to say if the Democrats had held up appointments should have John McCain been elected president instead?
This obstructionism is Washington politics at its worst and Bennett and Hatch ought to be ashamed of themselves. Republicans had eight years to manage the Department of Interior and, with the possible exception of James Watt during the Reagan years, I can't think of a time over the last 30 years when the department was so poorly managed or politicized.
Let's give the new guys a chance and quit with the useless political games playing.
– Tom Wharton