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Show A-16 The Park Record Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, August 11-14, 2018 Romney pitches prevention Candidate, Zinke say fewer trees equal fewer fires LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY — As wildfires ravage the U.S. West, Republican Senate candidate Mitt Romney has called for more logging and a high-tech early detection system in a plan that was met with some skepticism. Romney, a candidate in Utah, said in an essay that more logging would thin out forests and clear dead timber so fires have less fuel. “If the devastation of wildfires were being caused by a foreign enemy rather than by natural causes, we would do and spend whatever it took to stop it,” he wrote. U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke also advocated for thinning out forests in a USA Today op-ed published Wednesday, as California fights its largest wildfire in state history. Zinke took aim at “radical environmentalists,” who oppose logging, but Romney said there could be common ground if stopping fires meant saving animals and habitat. Romney’s Democratic Senate opponent Jenny Wilson lauded protective measures but said Romney’s plan misses the mark by not specifically addressing climate change-linked factors such as warmer weather and drought. “We must address climate change as a national crisis in order to protect the American West,” she said in a statement. Romney said he also wants to beef up regional firefighter resources and create an early detection system of drones, satellites and sensors. Romney’s campaign didn’t provide additional detail on his ideas. Fire experts said an early detection system isn’t at the top of their wish list. The Utah governor’s office agreed with most of Romney’s plan but said most wildfires are spotted and suppressed quickly. Firefighters use human spotters in lookout towers. There are also cameras placed on existing cell towers on mountaintops in many Western states, including Nevada and California, said Jessica Gardetto, spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. Money spent thinning forests of weeds and other vegetation, especially near buildings, is well spent, she said. Wildfires are a confluence of many factors, including longer, hotter summers, she said. “We’re seeing more of a fire year whereas we were seeing fire seasons in the past,” she said. Nearly 1,000 fires large and small have been sparked in Utah alone this year, costing some $60 million to fight, the state said. clude separate teams representing specifically the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Team Naatsis’aan, a Navajo name that translates to Navajo Mountain, has been competing for two years in Utah and ranks among the best in the state at that level, said Chelsey Short, the regional director for FIRST Robotics. Sustaining the program at a high school with a total of 30 students has been challenging. “It’s not like they had those technical skills, they decided they wanted to start a team and just kind of went for it, and they found mentors along the way,” Short said. Even getting food for team meetings can be a challenge, since the nearest restaurants and grocery stores are 90 minutes away from the Navajo Mountain community, where a number of homes don’t have running water, Anderson said. When they ran out of specialized screws, they had to wait two weeks to receive more in the mail. “It was frustrating because of the time it wasted before Mexico,” said team member Brea- na Bitsinnie, 18. They worked around it by focusing on other tasks while they were waiting. Team member Jason Slender, 16, said he grew up repairing laptops and phones, skills that came in handy when it comes to building robots. “The best part was brainstorming how we should design the robot, and managing to all agree on one,” he said Tuesday. Each of the teams heading to Mexico City is building a robot capable of feeding power plants. The Navajo team will have to work in alliances with other teams to score points in the challenge organized by the robotics nonprofit FIRST Global. Since they speak different languages, they’ll use a system of hand gestures to communicate, Bitsinnie said. For the students, the experience has sparked an interest in computer and programming careers. “The kids are really patient. They’re used to jumping through a lot of different hoops,” Anderson said. “That’s what’s really special about this team; they’re really proud of their work.” Navajo kids strike FIRST Young engineers headed to robotics competition LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY — A team of Navajo high school students from a remote town in southern Utah is building a robot to represent North America in an international robotics competition. The teenagers have worked all summer on the project, scheduling meetings between long drives to jobs far from the red rock and sage country of Navajo Mountain, where there is little paid work, said teacher Heather Anderson. The team was specially invited to compete in the FIRST Global Challenge that starts Aug. 14 in Mexico City. Teams from more than 190 countries will create robots for energy generation, especially renewable power. Teams hail from countries ranging from Congo to Ukraine, and also in- Post your best shots on Instagram with the hashtag: #ParkCityPics and we’ll put the best ones in The Park Record! Recognized for outstanding wealth management INTERMOUNTAIN MORTGAGE COMPANY 2018 (And pretty decent selfies) The Mogul Financial Group and UBS are proud to congratulate Glen Mintz for being recognized by Barron’s. For the fifth consecutive year, Glen was chosen as one of Barron’s Top 1,200 Advisors in the U.S. (2013 – 2018). This significant achievement is a testament to Glen’s passion for helping clients pursue what matters most to them. 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