Utah National Parks Will Reopen Saturday

Utah's 5 national parks and 3 other federal properties will reopen on Saturday, with the state paying to fund operations. That comes after Governor Gary Herbert struck a deal with U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

Properties that will reopen are:

• Zion National Park
• Bryce Canyon National Park
• Capitol Reef National Park
• Arches National Park
• Canyonlands National Park
• Glen Canyon/Lake Powell
• Natural Bridges National Monument
• Cedar Breaks National Monument

CNN.com and many other news outlets have reports on this development. Here are excerpts from the CNN.com article.

"Utah agrees to pay the National Park Service (NPS) up to $1.67 million— $166,572 per day—to re-open eight national sites in Utah for up to 10 days. If the federal government shutdown ends before then, the State will receive a refund of unused monies" an official press statement explained.

"Utah's national parks are the backbone of many rural economies and hard-working Utahns are paying a heavy price for this shutdown," Herbert said in the released statement. "I commend Secretary Jewell for being open to Utah's solution, and the world should know Utah is open for business and visitors are welcome."

In the event that the federal government shutdown drags on longer than the 10 days that have been accounted for, the state of Utah insists it would be able to make additional payments to keep the parks operational.

-- Dave Webb