This is your daily news rundown for Thursday, July 2. In this edition:
- Visitors to Utah state parks this Fourth of July will get a free pass for August
- Crews fighting the Iron Fire may have been exposed to mining contaminants
- Target shooting is temporarily banned in over half of Utah's counties
Spend the Fourth of July at state parks, get a free pass for August
Still unsure where to spend the Fourth of July this weekend? If you choose a Utah state park, you’ll get a free entry pass for later this year.
It’s expected to be a hot, busy weekend, so park officials recommend arriving before 9 a.m. for the best parking and to recreate before temperatures get too high.
All state parks are also under stage two fire restrictions, which means no open fires of any kind and no fireworks.
The free “bounce back” passes will be handed out at the entrance gates, one per vehicle. They can be used at any state park between August 3 and 6, except state park golf courses.
Crews fighting the Iron Fire may have been exposed to lead
Crews who fought the Iron Fire in Juab County may have been exposed to lead and other mining contaminants.
Great Basin Incident Management Team 3 said that firefighting activities near the historic Tintic Mining District may have stirred up contaminated soil, dust, or ash.
Todd Mury with Team 3 said the exposure concern was identified after crews were already in the area, then responders later moved out.
The presence of these contaminants doesn’t mean there was an exposure, and no illnesses have been reported so far.
However, Team 3 still asked firefighters and law enforcement who worked in the area to thoroughly wash their work clothes and equipment and change the air filters in their vehicles.
Target shooting is banned in over half of Utah’s counties because of wildlife danger
Target shooting is temporarily banned on wildlife management areas in over half of Utah’s counties.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said the move is because of high wildfire danger across the state. Target shooting sparked several recent human-caused wildfires, including the Middlefork Fire in Weber County.
The restrictions, effective immediately, also include possessing any explosives or exploding targets. They don’t apply to legal hunting.
Counties across the state will be impacted: Beaver, Box Elder, Cache, Carbon, Daggett, Duchesne, Emery, Iron, Juab, Millard, Morgan, Sanpete, Sevier, Summit, Uintah, and Wasatch.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources' website has a full list of wildlife management areas.
