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Show Vemal Express Wednesday, August 23. 1995 9 Young patrons ride reading railroad f . . . i' It ;l i Ivan Merrell receives the "Youngest Bootmaker" award from International Book Maker Guild President, Jay Michael Paul of Vancouver British Columbia. Dinosaur Monument to burn sage soon Dinosaur National Monument personnel per-sonnel are planning to conduct a prescribed fire in August or early September to improve vegetation conditions. "With this fire the objective is to convert a sagebrush stand to perennial peren-nial grassland," said Denny Huffman, park superintendent A 1,000-acre prescribed burn is planned for Iron Springs Bench along the Yampa Bench Road on the Colorado side of the Monument The fire will be ignited by park rangers in the early afternoon and should be extinguished by late afternoon. after-noon. Because of smoke and the presence of fire crew and fire engines, en-gines, traffic along the Yampa Bench Road and Echo Park Road may be halted at times. This could affect campers in Echo Park and those wishing to drive along the Yampa Bench. Visitors should plan their activities with the possibility of road closures. A ranger will be present to answer visitor questions. Ecologists have long recognized that fire is a natural element of the ecosystem. Before settlers began suppressing fire, the landscape was periodically burned as a result of lightning strikes. This kept the amount of burnable fuel that was on the ground to a minimum and kept the intensity of natural fires at a low level. The role of fire is one of clearing out old and less productive vegetation and recycling nutrients from the burned plants back to the soil. The result is rejuvenation of grasses and flowering plants which attract grazing wildlife and song birds. A fire skips across the landscape land-scape leaving some areas untouched. un-touched. This results in a patchwork of sagebrush and grass, a situation that provides more cover and food for wildlife. Prescribed burns at Dinosaur National Monument are conducted to mimic natural fires. The fuel reduction re-duction and restoration of native grasses which results is similar habitat which a natural fire would produce. Specific objectives are to reduce ground fuels to prevent a catastrophic fire, to promote the rejuvenation re-juvenation and growth of native vegetation, to control invasive weeds such as cheat grass and white top, and to provide improved vegetative vege-tative diversity and habitat for wildlife. Park rangers ignite prescribed burns only when the area to be burned meets prescription. The area needs to have natural fire breaks surrounding it or a blacked outline created ahead of time. Weather and fuel factors must meet prescribed conditions. Computer models use relative humidity, wind speed and direction, and fuel moisture to predicted pre-dicted fire behavior, and park staff can determine if burning conditions will result in the desired fire effects. Fire crews and engines are stationed at the fire and the fire's behavior is closely monitored. If the conditions exceed prescription, or the fire's behavior be-havior is inappropriate, or private land and public facilities are threatened, threat-ened, the fire is immediately suppressed. sup-pressed. Although fire can be destructive if it burns through a home, it is a natural natu-ral event that occurs in nature. Land managers discovered long ago that fire can be a helpful tool when used wisely. Many thing can happen as a result of a fire running through a sagebrush flat Within weeks new green shoots of grass appear. The following spring, the grass can be wdst high and wildflowers will abound. Elk will graze on the new grass, song birds will nest in the burned area, rodents and reptiles will have an abundance of food. The rejuvenation of the land is pleasing to the eye. A litttle common sense by Grant J. Earl How would you feel if your representatives repre-sentatives in Congress voted to raise your monthly electric bill? Every single month you could be paying higher bills because of one vote in Congress. While the final decisions haven't been made yet, some in Congress have, unfortunately, moved in the direction of raising your monthly electric bill. How could they do this? There is a proposal in Congress to auction the Nation's hydroelectric power marketing administrations ad-ministrations (PMAs) to the highest bidder. The PMAs sell electricity generated by a system of federally-owned federally-owned hydroelectric plants like Flaming Gorge, to consumer-owned electric utilities who, in turn, sell the electricity to their customers you and me. If the PMAs are auctioned auc-tioned off to the highest bidder, electric rates would be forced up making nearly SO million people pay more for electricity. Consumers, however, have many friends in Congress. Our friends are working very hard in their battle to protect consumers. The U.S. Senate took an important test vote on the PMAs in late May. Consumers won that vote with 64 senators voting to oppose the auction and higher elec tric rates. In the U.S. House of Representatives, the situation, however, how-ever, is not as good. That is where the most damaging proposals to auction the PMAs are being put together. to-gether. Some of the proposals if they were to become law could make some electric bills go up 100 or more. I don't have to tell you that that outcome would be devastating to tens of millions of hard-working American families. Already tens of thousands of cards, letters and phone calls opposed op-posed to these electric rate increases have flooded Congressional offices. They are making a difference the vote in the U.S. Senate recently is a clear indication of that. But the battle bat-tle is not yet over the next several sever-al weeks will be critical. Your elected elect-ed representatives in Washington need to know how you feel about the proposals to raise monthly electric elec-tric bills. Write to Congress and talk to your representatives. Tell them that you don't want your electric bill increased. You can write to your U.S. Representative at the US. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515. You can write to your Senators at the U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510. . Vernal City SECRET WITNESS r jr Program 789-8888 S Participants in the Uintah County Library's 1995 Summer Reading Program had a summer full of activities, activ-ities, reading and earning reading . money. This year's theme was "Ride the Reading Railroad." A variety of activities ac-tivities were planned to entertain and reward participating youth as they kept up on their reading skills. Over 790 young patrons registered regis-tered at the county library this year in the Summer Reading Program. Activities included face painting with Blaine Pierce; entertainment with the Uintah Jazz Band; storytelling story-telling with Carolyn Klatt, Utah State Library; a magic show with Ralph Frescas; unicycle demonstrations demonstra-tions by Sally Wackowski's group of unicyclists; a discussion on pets with Betty Lytle; entertainment with Pat Conn; movies at the Vernal Theater and story times geared to ages 3-7 and 8 years of age and up. The closing activity was a swimming swim-ming party at the Vernal Swimming Pool. Participants were each asked to set a goal with their parents on how much they would read each week during the summer. Each level of commitment helped them earn a specific amount of "Choo"-sc to Read Bucks. As the program wound down, these "Choo"-se to Read Bucks were used by participating young patrons to select from the Summer Reading Program Award Store. The Award Store (Monday, Aug. 7 through Friday, Aug. 11) was a success as many shoppers had a hard time deciding what to purchase pur-chase among the many prize op tions. Summer Reading Program participation partici-pation is not limited to just the younger patrons of the Uintah County Library. Adult and Y.A. patrons pa-trons may also participate. This year, the Uintah County Library had over 90 adult and Y.A. patrons register. reg-ister. Those who registered spent their summer reading and exploring a variety of subjects and interest areas. ar-eas. Each participant was to select nine categories from the suggested list of 122 categories and read a book in each. These selections were recorded on their record sheet for each category and then the record sheet was turned in for a special drawing at the end of the summer. Two gift certificates were given, one in each age category. The winner win-ner for the Y.A. category was Tahlic Kendall, daughter of Gary and Lyuna Kendall. May Jane Page had her name drawn as the winner in the adult category. Programs like this would not be possible without the support of parents, par-ents, the community and Uintah County. Falcon's Ledge Reservations required This offer is good thru Nov. 95' Coupon required (801)454-3737 Come spend the night and your dinner is half price! Clip & Save y W y n go. '4 ,J- prS -y---v;;;:; :. :i rl 9 r flOTn 4 ki'Lr w yl w V v - I Includes floor car. Motall product Bum mv an trlng rang. Thiira.f-S3is5Q QthrovB'i, August g m 1 I '5 1 SS cfej if j 99-99 E f , Jj miiiniiiiii i: sr I Your choice J : ssvl , --rTt' f. fi; a I 29876 6-drawer tool chest and wrjrrfmmmSj'' ' cabinet combo, 1 1 8-pc. UiiilliiUiO f ! i mechanic's tool set with ,;. t jr$ "I I if 1 L case or 5-HP, 16-gal. f m I Bnchpowrf If i ?i Ai 'i 399.99 SS"- ' i rr jfJis I Craftsman 10-in. cast-iron table I T Jr 17700 saw tackles the toughest cutsl I T 33618 eK. I Belt-drive motor develops 3 HP. V r V- I Cast-Iron table, extensions. S t if I iiV a. 11099.99 En i I Through Auguil 26. Rag. I29W9 O I Save 200 r QvJ ? I 15-HP,42-in. lawn tractor L 5"' $Ji I B. 2499.99 A" 25251 f Through August 26. Rg. 2699.99 I i q Oave-200 . J 19.5-HP.4Wn. garden tractor V V)r 1 I with Kohler Magnum engine B. 25051 iKenmore'l ., , jSa$ grills I II I aucmbly. 14 ClkCk Without tank.Thru S26. Rg. 159.99 Gas grill with 600 sq. in. total cooking cook-ing area and retracting warming rack. Pushbutton Ignitor, front table. l.P. tank (22950), 24.99 All chipporvacs on sale! 20-100 off Through August 26 All tillers on sale! 10-100 off Through August 26 Dauumi inrDotJueirs on saDeS 5-100 off Through August 26 YOU CAN COUNT ON SEARS FOR SATISFACTION GUARANTEED OR YOUR MONEY BACK Item at tri tarn pwesntag discount U th Ittm was rducd, or 3) an equal or bttr Ittm al th odvortlisd prlc it th Hm was not rducd. Excludes Hmlttd often, special orders and Itemi not normally normal-ly at your Sears. IMPORTANT CRIDIT DiTAILS: Sales tax, delivery or Installation not Included in monthly payments shown. Actual monthly payment can vary depending on your account balance. 1400 minl-mum minl-mum purchase required to open a SeoriCharg PLUS account. Cioet Sears, Roebuck ond Co. Items at most larger stores, Outlet stores excluded. Some maor appliances, electronics available by special order at smaller stores. Reductions Irom regular priest unlets otherwlte stated. Hems not described at reduced or at special purchasei are at reg. price. Special purchases are not reduced, ana are limited in quantify. Prices do not Include delivery, unlets specified. Environmental lurchargei extra. We try to have oaequate stock of advertised Items. When out of stocks occur, you have a choice: 1) a "raincheck," or 2) a substitute 25 S. Vernal Ave. Vernal, Utah Phone: 801-781-0409 Store Hours: MorvFrl: 9 am to 6 pm Sat: 9 am to 5 pm Sun: 11 am to 3 pm Owned and Operated by: Fred & Tracy Thacker |