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Show A-2 Wed/Thurs/Fri, April 10-12, 2019 The Park Record The heavy snows fuel outlook for wildfires The Park Record. Serving Summit County since 1880 The Park Record, Park City’s No. 1 source for local news, opinion and advertising, is available for home delivery in Summit, Wasatch, Salt Lake, Davis and Utah counties. Single copies are also available at 116 locations throughout Park City, Heber City, Summit County and Salt Lake City. Danger is expected to be average in the area, but caution needed ANGELIQUE MCNAUGHTON The Park Record SUBSCRIPTION RATES In Summit County (home delivery): $56 per year (includes Sunday editions of The Salt Lake Tribune) Outside Summit County (home delivery available in Wasatch, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber and Utah counties; all other addresses will be mailed via the U.S. Postal Service): $80 per year To subscribe please call 435–649– 9014 or visit www.parkrecord.com and click the Subscribe link in the Reader Tools section of the toolbar at the bottom of the page. To report a missing paper, please call 801–204–6100. Same-day redelivery is possible if you call during the following hours: * Weekdays: 6:30–8 a.m. * Saturday: 7–8 a.m. * Sunday: 7–10:30 a.m. To request a vacation hold or change of address, please call 435–649–9014 or email: circulation@parkrecord.com THE NEWSROOM PARK RECORD FILE PHOTO Barack Obama held a campaign rally in August of 2007 in a parking lot along S.R. 224 in the Snyderville Basin, drawing up to 1,000 people as the primary season approached. He also held a private fundraiser during the visit to the Park City area. Continued from A-1 Stops are memorable helicopter landed on a field at the Park City School District campus followed by a motorcade to Deer Valley. Crowds gathered in numerous places along the motorcade route. Many cheered the motorcade while others held vulgar signs condemning the president or flashed obscene gestures as the vehicles drove by. • Sen. Barack Obama in August of 2007 as he prepared for the Democrat- ic primaries and caucuses during the 2008 election cycle. Obama scheduled the trip to Park City to attend a private fundraiser and held a hastily arranged public rally alongside the private event. The rally drew up to 1,000 people to a parking lot along S.R. 224 in the Snyderville Basin as he addressed the war in Iraq, climate change and other standard topics in his early stump speeches. • Mitt Romney repeatedly during his unsuccessful bid in 2008 for the Republican White House nomination as well as his presidential campaign four years later. Romney at the time of his two campaigns already had longtime ties to the Park City area as a homeowner and as the leader of the organizing committee that put on the 2002 Winter Olympics. Romney hosted a gathering of top-tier Republican figures in the summer of 2012 as he prepared for the fall campaign season. To contact the newsroom, please call 435–649–9014 or email editor@parkrecord.com For display advertising, please call a sales representative at 435–649– 9014 or email val@parkrecord.com To place a classified ad, please call 435–649–9014 or email classads@parkrecord.com For questions about your bill, please call 435–649–9014 or email accounts@parkrecord.com The Park Record online is available at www.parkrecord.com and contains all of the news and feature stories in the latest edition plus breaking news updates. The Record’s website also hosts interactive entertainment, restaurant and lodging listings and multimedia features. Contents of The Park Record are Copyrighted 2015, Wasatch Mountain News Media Co. All rights reserved. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written consent of the managing editor or publisher. The Park Record (USPS 378-730) (ISSN 0745-9483) is published twice weekly by Wasatch Mountain News Media Co., 1670 Bonanza Drive, Park City, UT 84060. Periodicals postage paid at Salt Lake City, Utah, 84199-9655 and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Park Record, P.O. Box 3688, Park City, UT84060. Entered as second-class matter, May 25, 1977, at the Post Office in Park City, Utah, 84060 under the Act of March 3, 1897. Subscription rates are: $56 within Summit county, $80 outside of Summit County, Utah. Subscriptions are transferable: $5 cancellation fee. Phone: 435–649–9014 Fax: 435–649–4942 Email: circulation@parkrecord.com Published every Wednesday and Saturday PARK RECORD FILE PHOTO President George W. Bush traveled to Park City in May of 2008 to raise funds for other Republicans campaigning that year. He arrived in the presidential helicopter in a field at the Park City School District campus and then moved to Deer Valley in a motorcade. Continued from A-1 Visits are possible will continue to attract “the top-tier candidates,” Butler said. She noted Summit County has a strong Democratic presence in the state, something that influences the possibility of campaign or fundraising stops in the Park City area. Butler said the county Democrats by early in April had not been contacted about an event for any of the contenders for the presidential nomination. She said the candidates, though, could schedule visits for fundraisers or, possibly, town hall events, starting as early as the summer. Butler on Tuesday morning said there were no plans as of then for Warren, a senator from Massachusetts, to travel to the Park City area during her visit to Utah planned on April 17. Butler noted the Super Tuesday scheduling of the primary in Utah, saying the state gains significance in the nominating by casting ballots on what will be seen as a crucial date for the candidates. “It absolutely makes Utah more important as a primary state,” Butler said. The Park City-area tilts Democratic, and it is one of the state’s most reliably Democratic locales, but Republicans have also seen successes in fundraising in the Park City area. The Summit County Republican Party also is readying for the presidential campaign season even though a major challenger is not expected as Trump seeks re-election. Brantley Eason, the chair of the county Republicans, predicted there is a good chance of top-name Republicans stopping in the Park City area during the 2020 election cycle. He did not have details but said visits could perhaps be scheduled in early 2020. “I could see someone coming through Park City for a fundraiser. It’s feasible we could get a national candidate to come through,” Eason said. While Summit County residents should always be prepared for severe fire danger, Summit County Fire Warden Bryce Boyer says early predictions are indicating residents can most likely expect an “average” wildfire season this year. “As of right now, the national outlook is showing about average to cooler-than-average temperatures with above-average precipitation, which at this point is keeping the fire risk looking pretty minimal,” Boyer said. “But, it remains to be seen if that will change.” Boyer based his comments off of the National Interagency Fire Center fire season predictions for April, May and June. A clearer picture of the situation typically emerges in May. Summit County’s fire season usually lasts from June through October and peaks in August, with the lower elevations typically seeing the most wildfires. “But, in a wet year like we’ve had, we won’t start seeing fires until late June and July,” Boyer said. The Summit County Council and fire officials have placed more of an emphasis on preparing for the upcoming fire season than in years past. Summit County, like most of the state, experienced an active season in 2018, with hundreds of acres burning from natural and human-caused blazes. Officials have been regularly meeting over the last month with the municipal governments, homeowners associations, three fire districts and the Snyderville Basin Recreation District to come up with a way to mitigate the fire danger across the county. Boyer said a fire has already occurred this year in Echo Canyon. It was contained to less than an acre and likely started near the railroad. “We’ve just been trying to get the word out,” Boyer said. “Over the past couple years with the California fires and the fires we have had, it’s gotten people’s attention. Now is the time as the snow is coming off to start doing yard work and getting ready before it gets hot and dried out. Not when the smoke is already in the air.” Continued from A-1 A deal must be fair gation does.” A hearing was held in February to determine whether the other lawsuits in the state should be consolidated Open burning is currently allowed unless restricted by a city or town ordinance. Boyer said he is getting about five to 30 burn permit requests a day. County officials are working with the three fire departments to create a county wildland preparedness plan. Summit County Councilor Glenn Wright said the plan is different from the county’s emergency procedures that are already in place. “We are looking at which areas are most vulnerable to wildland fire, coming up with ideas in how they will inspect those areas and perhaps come up with some enforcement actions in those areas,” he said. “But, I don’t think anyone has decided what the level of enforcement we are going to start with.” The plan is still being finalized and is expected to be complete sometime next month, Wright said. He added, “We are going to have to come up with some ideas on how we are going to address this and what kind of financial support we can put into these plans.” Fire mitigation and creating defensible spaces around homes can be costly, with removal of large dead trees typically running upwards of several thousand dollars. “It looks like there will be some state money for some of these projects,” Wright said. “We just have to figure how to tap into it. My feeling is that we will have a better opportunity to tap state funds if we show we have a good plan and are willing to put some skin in the game.” Chris Crowley, Summit County’s emergency manager, said the main focus has been on the neighborhoods and what individual homeowners can do on their own. He encouraged residents to visit the county’s website and download the template for the community wildfire preparedness plan. Crowley highlighted the Park City Fire District and Summit County’s chipping programs. He mentioned the state also has a fuels mitigation program to help homeowners remove larger hazards, such as dead trees. “It is never too early to start talking about this,” he said. “It really is about communities getting together to discuss their hazards and trying to build as much defensible space around their homes as they can. If we can’t get around your house, we can’t defend it.” into the county’s case because it was the first filed. Judge Richard Mrazik later determined that only the Tooele and Salt Lake County cases would be consolidated into the county’s case, Olson said. “He (judge) did not consolidate the other cases that aren’t in the 3rd District Court into the county’s case because he couldn’t reach into other districts and stipulate to consolidate,” she said. “It is likely, though, that most of the other cases will eventually be consolidated into ours. 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