Uintah County is now the proud owners of several snow machines. That statement comes with many follow up questions and Uintah County Commissioner Bart Haslem is eager to catch everyone up to speed on what for now is being called the Buckskin Hills Winter Park. This all started with the need for on the job training. Uintah County had 7 employees retire from the road department and 7 new people were hired to replace them. New employees are required to have a certain amount of time training on each piece of equipment so it was decided that rather than just have them push dirt around, they would have them do their training while creating a snow hill south of Buckskin Hills Shooting Range. Meanwhile, money that had been awarded to Uintah County through the CARES Act was nearing its expiration date. “We gave what we could out in grants to small businesses which was close to $4 million dollars between the two rounds of funding,” explains Haslem. “Every way we could figure out, we gave it out to the community but still ended with roughly $500,000 dollars left.” The funds could be used to expand already developed infrastructure to better facilitate COVID guidelines at public activities. Uintah County used some of the funds to put in a parking lot for the motocross track where people could watch the action from their cars. The idea for the snow machines was also brought up as a way to give people something to do outdoors but be spread out. “There are no local taxes involved,” emphasizes Haslem. “The CARES money was going to be spent one way or another. Either we spend it or it gets sent to Salt Lake and they will spend it.” So Uintah County utilized a remaining portion of the CARES funding and purchased the snow machines. The winter park area will be divided into 2 sections with the north side groomed for tubes that can be rented and the south side groomed for skis or snowboards, but the county’s priority for now will be the tubing side. Also for now it is mostly for daytime use but Haslem says that if the spot is popular enough they can see expanding the hours and offerings. There will be a small fee to use the facility to cover the operation and maintenance costs but what that will be and the exact date of opening will soon be announced. In the meantime, all are urged to get prepared to get out of the house and enjoy the new winter fun that will soon be available in Uintah County! 
