Month: July 2017

While not a huge leap, the Division of Wildlife Resources is looking to offer more cougar hunting permits this fall. Last season, hunters were allowed to take 531 cougars and biologists are recommending that hunters be allowed 565 this coming season. 

A local Emergency Medical Services Director was awarded this month at the Utah EMS Awards Ceremony in Draper, Utah. Uintah Basin Healthcare Emergency Medical Services Director Von Johnson was awarded the Distinguished EMSC Coordinator Award on July 12th during the event hosted by the Utah Department of Health

Officials confirmed Friday that a body found in Sweetwater County on July 11th is a man that has been missing since 2015.  Sweetwater County Sheriff Mike Lowell and coroner Dale Majhanovich issued a joint release stating that the remains are those of Darrell Douglas Sowder, a Superior resident who was 59 when he went missing in 2015.

A newly passed defense spending bill is expected to strengthen Hill Air Force Base. Representative Rob Bishop says that the funding levels in H.R. 2810 are a vast improvement over recent years and will help address shortfalls that plagued the military under the Obama Administration. “Language contained in the bill also means Utah and Hill Air Force Base will continue in its critical role as a player in our national defense,” shares Bishop. “Full funding for the F-35 program and various construction projects at Hill secures the Base as the home of 5th generation fighters for a long time to come.” Bishop also says this directly enhances operations at the Ogden Air Logistics Complex and will also provide for construction of new facilities at Hill Air Force Base. 

The Division of Wildlife Resources has announced the dates for the treatment of Reader Creek to restore the cutthroat trout population. Reader Creek and Lynn Creek have both experienced dramatic decline in the cutthroat population due to competition and breeding with non-native trout. The decline has been so severe that the species’ future has been called into question. As a result, DWR biologists, partnered with Ashley National Forest, will chemically treat both streams with rotenone. “The treatment will remove brook trout that have established themselves in the streams,” explains the DWR. “Without intervention, biologists predict brook trout will completely replace cutthroat trout in the streams in less than 20 years.” Treatment within the Reader Creek drainage at Horseshoe and Sharlee Lakes will take place from July 18th to July 23rd. The area will be closed to public access and all use of the water including wading, fishing, and swimming will be prohibited. This also includes areas within 100 feet of Horseshoe and Sharlee Lakes and their outlets down to their confluence with Reader Creek and continuing downstream to Forest Service Road 110.

The annual Uintah Basin Car Show didn’t disappoint over the weekend. Between a poker run, night at the Drive In movie, and cruise around town, the streets of Roosevelt looked like a flash back to decades long passed. The Constitution Park provides the perfect venue every year for the car show with plenty of shade not only for spectators but room for the cars to park on the shaded grass. While there had been car shows in the past, local Kirk Campbell revived the event about a decade ago and the event has grown in the years since. Three-quarters of the cars featured annually come from outside the area including other states and even sometimes out of the country, shares Duchesne County Chamber Director Irene Hansen. “This is a well known event that is highly attended and of course a lot of locals come and just enjoy it.”