The Wayne & Garfield County Insider September 10, 2020

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The

Insider

Serving Wayne & Garfield Counties, Utah

LOA • FREmONT • LYmAN • BICkNELL • TEASDALE • TORREY • GROvER • FRUITA • CAINEvILLE • HANkSvILLE PANGUITCH • PANGUITCH LAkE • HATCH • ANTImONY • BRYCE • TROPIC • HENRIEvILLE • CANNONvILLE • ESCALANTE • BOULDER

Thursday, September 10, 2020

UDOT has Begun Renovation at Bryce Canyon BRYCE CANYON N.P. - The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) has begun construction on a project designed to enhance the safety and mobility of Scenic Byway State Route 12 through a one-and-onequarter mile section of Bryce Canyon National Park. The project, valued at over $8-million, extends efforts to bring further stability to a landslide area that claimed half of the road in February 2017 and follows an Environmental Assessment conducted jointly by both UDOT and the National Park Service to assess the long term stability and improvements necessary to sustain mobility needs into the future. The project will also provide improved access for vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians through a better defined corridor built within the context of park and regional needs. In addition to pavement renovation, improvements include a westbound climbing lane to help reduce speed conflicts and provide passing opportunities on a steep, Renovation

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Issue # 1376

GCNRA and Partners Reopening the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center

Vultures: Nature's Clean-up Crew

BoB Hartman

Turkey Vulture sunbathing. ESCALANTE - Spring through fall, Turkey Vultures (TV) are one of the most obvious birds in our area. Large and black, they can be seen soaring, eating roadkill, or roosting for the night in groups in a favored tree. Recently, friends Kathie, Lisa and Bob told me of their encounters with these amazing birds, which inspired this article. The seven species of vul-

Boulder Town Council September by tessa Barkan

InsIder

The Boulder Town Council meets on the first Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. BOULDER - The Sep- One council member remindtember 2020 Boulder Town ed the audience that this is a Council meeting was held small community, where everyone holds many roles and over Zoom. All members of the has many relatives, and that Boulder Town Council had those on the board are choreceived copies of the Mu- sen because of their integrity nicipal Officers’ and Employ- and must be trusted to uphold ees’ Ethics Act. Mayor Steve this. Cox added that he beCox stated that the purpose of lieves this is a training that reviewing this act was to en- the state should require and sure that members know the that sometimes, those who ethics rules. Town Clerk Judi are newer may not be aware Davis provided an overview. of these issues. He also asked The act states that elected and if the Boulder Planning Comappointed officers must de- mission secretary, Peg Smith, clare any actual or possible would conduct a similar trainconflicts of interest. Penalties ing at the next planning cominclude fines or conviction of mission meeting. A public hearing on a felony. If someone is unsure about whether they have a amendments to the Wireless conflict of interest, they must Communication Towers and issue a statement to find out. Facilities Ordinance then ocAttempting to influence an Boulder Council elected or appointed town Cont'd on page 8 official is a misdemeanor.

REGIONAL WEATHER FORECAST FOR SOME BUT NOT ALL REGIONS REPRESENTED IN OUR NEWSPAPER COVERAGE AREA

tures in the Americas are in their own family, Cathartidae. Four of them are confined to the tropics, but three occur in the U.S.: Turkey Vulture, Black Vulture, and California Condor. TVs have the most extensive north to south range of the three, breeding from the Canadian border to the tip of South America. They usually appear here in March; they withdraw southward and to

Thirty Days Left to Be Counted in 2020 Census

UTAH - Now is the time to be counted in the 2020 Census! Data collection will end on September 30, and the U.S. Census Bureau is encouraging everyone in Utah to respond between now and the deadline of September 30. Currently, the state of Utah has a 69.4 percent total response rate, which includes self-response and Nonresponse Followup (NRFU) operations. A complete and accurate count is vital to the state of Utah. If households are not counted, Utah could miss out on its share of hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding, and it could also affect Utah's apportionment in Congress. More than 1,700 census takers are working in Utah to visit households that have not yet responded to the 2020 Census. In most cases, census workers will make multiple attempts at each housing unit to count residents in that household. Census takers will be wearing masks and are trained in social distancing protocols and other health and safety guidance. If no one is home at the time of the visit, the census taker will leave a notice of visit, which includes information on how the household can self-respond to the census. Even though census takers are working in the field, it is not too late to self-respond Census

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the coasts for the winter. Most years, they are gone from our area in mid-to-late fall, but twice have been recorded on the Escalante Christmas Bird Count. Like other vultures, TVs are capable of soaring over large distances in search of food. Their teetering flight, Vultures

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Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and the Dixie National Forest. In addition, the following services continue to be available as previously announced and described at https://www.nps.gov/glca/ planyourvisit/conditions.htm With public health in mind, the following facilities and operations remain closed at this time: • Some concessions operations continue to be temporarily suspended. For more information please visit: Concessions operations • Some park facilities and areas are temporarily closed. For more information, please visit: https:// www.nps.gov/glca/planyourvisit/conditions.htm The health and safety of our visitors, employees, volunteers, and partners continues to be paramount. At Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, our operational approach continues to be centered on examining each facility function and service to ensure those operations comply with current public Visitor Center Cont'd on page 8

DWR Donating Wild Game Meat to Utahns Experiencing Economic Difficulties Due to COVID-19

Courtesy utaH dIvIsIon of WIldlIfe resourCes

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has an ongoing program whereby those who are experiencing economic difficulties due to COVID-19 can sign up to receive wild game meat that has either been harvested due to conflicts with ranchers and farmers or has been seized by DWR conservation officers due to poaching. SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources wants the public to know about an ongoing program where anyone experiencing economic difficulties can sign up to receive wild game meat throughout Utah. This program has been in effect for several decades as a way to use the meat from wild animals that are euthanized to help reduce conflicts with ranchers and farmers in rural areas. Wildlife, such as elk and deer, can cause property damage and economic hardship to ranchers and farmers by grazing on their hay fields or crops. When these conflicts occur within town lim-

THURS. SEPTEMBER 10 - WED. SEPTEMBER 16

After a drastic lowering in temps earlier this week, they begin to rise back up, reaching the mid 80s by the beginning of next week. Highs range from the high 60s to the low to mid 80s; lows from the 30s to the mid 40s. Sunny, with no chance of precip.

ESCALANTE - Following guidance from the White House, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state and local public health authorities, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, the Bureau of Land Management, and Dixie National Forest are increasing access and services. The National Park Service (NPS) is working servicewide with federal, state, and local public health authorities to closely monitor the COVID-19 pandemic and using a phased approach to increase access on a park-by-park basis. Beginning September 3, 2020, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and partners reopened access to: • The Escalante Interagency Visitor Center, located at 755 West Main Street in Escalante, Utah. • The visitor center is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Thursday through Monday, until further notice. The buildings will remain closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. • The visitor center is staffed by Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and Glen Canyon Conservancy personnel, providing information on the

We are an impossibility in an impossible universe. —Ray Bradbury

its, on private land or outside of a hunting season, hunters aren’t in a position to legally harvest these animals. So, in some cases, DWR employees respond to these incidents and remove the wildlife. Some of the meat donated through this program also comes from wildlife that is poached and then seized by DWR conservation officers. “We don’t want to see this valuable food resource go to waste, so we donate the meat from these animals to locals who may be in need,” DWR Wildlife Coordinator Chad Wilson said. “Because COVID-19 has impacted so many Utahns economically,

we wanted to make sure the public was aware of this program and can use it, if needed. When it is necessary for us to euthanize wildlife, it is important that we don’t let the meat go to waste. We are glad that this valuable resource can benefit Utahns and their families who may be struggling during these difficult times.” DWR employees who remove an animal will first assess its condition and then follow careful field-dressing procedures to help ensure that the meat is properly han-

ALL content for THE WAYNE & GARFIELD COUNTY INSIDER must be submitted by FRIDAY AT NOON to be included in the following Thursday edition of the paper.

BOXHOLDER

Meat Donations Cont'd on page 3

PRE-SORT STANDARD PAID RICHFIELD, UTAH PERMIT No. 122


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