Utah.gov

Utah law requires youth, ages eight to 16 to complete the Utah State Parks and Recreation Know Before You Go! snowmobile education course before operating on public lands, roads or trails.

This is the near-final draft of the 2010 Utah Fishing Guidebook. This draft may contain errors and is subject to change. If you download the draft edition, please make sure that you download the final edition of the guidebook when it is available. The final edition of the guidebook will be available online by Tuesday, December 1, 2009.

Some of the best citizen science opportunities involve birds. Come and learn about some great upcoming citizen science projects as well as the basics of birds and bird watching. This program is geared towards individuals, families, scout groups and anyone interested in getting more involved in something great.

The DWR usually flies its weekly swan surveys on Tuesday mornings. You can stay updated on where the swans are by logging onto the DWR's Web site at wildlife.utah.gov/waterfowl/swan/swansurvey.php.

The festival begins on Friday evening, Nov. 20, at the Moab Information Center. The center is at the corner of Center and Main streets in Moab.

At 7 p.m., Justin Shannon, regional wildlife manager for the DWR, will present a PowerPoint program about bighorn sheep ecology and their life history. Shannon did his graduate thesis on this very topic.

Come join the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum and the Uintah Recreation District for our 3rd annual "Movie Night at the Museum". We will be showing the family film "Night at the Museum:Battle for the Smithsonian." The event is free, but tickets are required and can be picked up in advance at the Uintah Community Center. The movie times are 5:45 PM and 8:00 PM.

On Oct. 24, a bunch of volunteers assembled behind the Archway Inn in Moab. The team was armed with shovels, water buckets and a lot of determination.

Their mission? Plant more than 2,000 native plants at the Scott M. Matheson Wetlands Preserve, which was ravaged by fire last fall.

7 Nov 2009 - 11 Nov 2009

A celebration of Cedar City's birthday and pioneer heritage.

Saturday the 7th - Special community day of living history/pioneer craft demonstrations, family Hand-cart Pull, guided tour of historic Cedar City cemetery,10:00-5:00

Orem, Utah – The numbers of Japanese beetles in Orem have nearly been reduced to zero following three years of intense treatment by the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) and remarkable public participation.

  The online youth OHV education course fee is $30 per student and must be passed only once.  The certification covers ATVs, off-highway motorcycles (OHMs) and side-by-side ATVs (type II ATVs or UTVs).

In June, Division of Wildlife Resources biologists collected about 64,000 eggs from female Colorado River cutthroat trout in Duck Fork Reservoir. Then they used milt from male cutthroats to fertilize the eggs on site before taking the eggs to the Fountain Green State Fish Hatchery. Hatchery workers used the fertilized eggs to raise about 30,000 three-inch-sized fish.

Anglers are raising their eyebrows at Steinaker Reservoir. "What is this fish I just caught?" many of them are asking. "It looks like a ghost. Is it radioactive?!" 

The 'Wild West' returns to Antelope Island State Park! Join us for the 23rd Annual Bison Roundup, Saturday October 31 and Sunday November 1, 2009.

Children age eight to 15 are invited to celebrate Halloween with
an evening of spooky off-highway vehicle riding at the Jordan River Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Center Friday, October 30 from 3 to 8 p.m. Cost is $10 per family. Only riders eight through 15 are allowed to ride during this time

Utah State Parks and Recreation is currently seeking a representative to serve on the Utah Recreational Trails Advisory Council, and to specifically represent the interests of equestrian trail users. Applications will be accepted through Tuesday, December 1.

The time of year when you can hunt deer and elk in Utah might change in 2011.  The ideas the Division of Wildlife Resources has come up with wouldn't be implemented until the 2011 hunts. But the changes are big enough that the DWR wants to get the ideas out now so there's plenty of time for you to comment.

You might see a few more deer when Utah's rifle buck deer hunt starts Oct. 17. The weather this past spring and winter was almost ideal for mule deer.

You should catch more fish more often when you visit Utah's community fishing waters next year. 

And while it might take a year or two to notice, perch fishing at waters across Utah should become more consistent too.

Two changes approved by the Utah Wildlife Board on Oct. 1—a two-fish limit at the community waters and a 50-fish yellow perch limit across the state—are the reasons for both.

The new limits start Jan. 1, 2010.

The last trail work day of the year will take place on Saturday, October 10 starting at 9:00 am at the Dutch Hollow Trail Complex in Midway Utah. Midway is beautiful this time of year, the weather is cool and perfect for getting out and enjoying the trails. Come help park staff and other volunteers fix up, re-route and prune back the trails.

You and your family can participate in several outdoor activities at the Elk Festival at the Hardware Ranch Wildlife Management Area. The festival is free of charge. It will be held Saturday, Oct. 10.

The number of bison on the Henry Mountains needs to be reduced.

Is moving more bison from the Henry Mountains to the Book Cliffs the answer? Or should the state offer more hunting permits?

This fall's duck hunt could be one of the best Utah's hunters have seen in years. The number of ducks is way up from last year. And the marsh conditions are great at many of Utah's hunting areas.

Now, if the weather will just cooperate!

Utah's waterfowl hunt starts Oct. 3.

The Utah Water Quality Board has reserved approximately $4 million dollars of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funds to be received by the state to fund “GREEN” water quality projects in Utah. This funding will be targeted toward nonpoint source, green infrastructure, water and energy efficiency, and environmentally innovative projects as outlined in EPA’s Guidance issued by the Office of Water on March 2, 2009.

The Utah Geological Survey’s newest geologic maps could prove useful in efforts to address geologic hazard and resource issues in Utah County. The maps cover parts of central and southern Utah Valley and surrounding areas.

Participants will learn how to make pottery like the ancient Fremont Indians. Through one-on-one instruction, local artists will teach methods of pottery making, decorating and firing in a rock-lined pit. Preregistration and workshop fee required. For more information and registration form, contact Kari Carlisle at karicarlisle@utah.gov or 435-527-4631.

Heber City — Fluorescent red kokanee salmon have started to swim up some of the tributaries to Strawberry Reservoir. The salmon make this journey as part of their annual spawning run.

You can see hundreds of these salmon and possibly other wildlife, too at the annual Strawberry Valley Wildlife Festival.

Come and enjoy a short presentation about the stories behind the constellations we know and love. Meet at the Visitors Center at 8:00pm on 9/26. The program lasts about two hours.  Bring the family!

This is the near-final draft of the 2010 Utah Turkey Guidebook. This draft may contain errors and is subject to change. If you download the draft edition, please make sure that you download the final edition of the guidebook when it is available. The final edition of the guidebook will be available online by Thursday, September 3, 2009.

Camphosts and Museum Hosts greet park visitors, provide information about the park and surrounding areas, collect user fees, and assist with maintenance, cleaning and general upkeep of the campground or museum. Camphosts also oversee day-to-day campground activities and help deter vandalism. Most of our parks have full hookups for hosts in exchange for 30 or more hours a week of volunteer efforts.

Dr. Beth Townsend of Midwestern University in Glendale Arizona will present a lecture on the fossil mammals of the Uinta Basin on September 17th at the Utah Field House of Natural History. Dr. Townsend has spent the last decade collecting and researching the fossil mammals and will be presenting her findings. The lecture is free to the public and starts at 7:00 PM.

Hurricane — A call to Utah's Turn-in-a-Poacher hotline has resulted in a major poaching arrest in southwestern Utah.  On Aug. 18, Hurricane resident Mathew Steven Spendlove was charged with four Class A misdemeanors and three Class B misdemeanors in 5th District Court in St. George.

For the first time in 11 years, you can have two pintail ducks in your daily duck bag limit. That and moving Youth Hunting Day into mid-September, were among changes the Wildlife Board approved recently.

Starting in 2010, the chance you'll catch yellow perch in Utah could increase. And the chance to catch fish at Utah's community fishing waters might go up too.

A statewide yellow perch limit and a lower limit at the community waters are among the ideas Division of Wildlife Resources biologists are proposing for Utah's 2010 fishing season.

The number of cougars taken by hunters in Utah this season should be similar to the number taken over the past four seasons.

Members of the Utah Wildlife Board approved rules for the state's upcoming season at their Aug. 20 meeting in Salt Lake City.

Huntington North Reservoir received a new sportfish recently. On July 9, Division of Wildlife Resources hatchery workers flushed 10,000 wriggling wipers out of a hatchery truck and into its waters.

If you like camping and Bluegrass music, you'll love Rockport's annual Dam Jam Bluegrass Festival located at Rockport's Old Church campground area. Come and enjoy authentic Bluegrass music. Listen to local Bluegrass bands perform in the Old Church. If playing is your passion, stroll around the camp area and "jam" with other musicians. For further details contact Rockport State Park at 435-336-2241.

In 2008, Utah State Parks hosted 4,540,957 visitors! 
The chart below provides visitation numbers for each park during the same year.

The Utah Dating Violence Task Force and several community partners will host the 2nd Annual 5K Walk/Run to Prevent Dating Violence to raise awareness, reduce the stigmas, and offer support to those affected by dataing violence. All proceeds from the race will be used by the Utah Dating Violence Task Force towards the 2010 Dating Violence Prevention and Awareness Week activities.

If you're an archery hunter, you can stay safe during this year's archery hunts by following a few, simple rules.

Utah's general archery buck deer and elk hunts kick off Aug. 15.

As boaters cool off at area lakes and reservoirs, Utah State Parks Boating Education Specialist Chris Haller reminds boaters to follow Utah’s speed and proximity law.
This law requires boat operators to remain at a slow wakeless speed whenever they are within 150 feet of another boat, person floating on the water, towed waterskier, shore anglers, launch ramp, dock, or designated swimming area. Personal watercraft are considered boats.