SALT LAKE CITY — School is almost out, meaning thousands will soon be heading to the hills, the trails, and the waterways, and especially Utah's state parks. This year, a new crew of state rangers will be out trying to keep everyone safe and informed.
The group is part of the newly-formed or reformed State Division of Outdoor Recreation. They’re trying to make sure people follow the rules of the road and the water, while also attempting to keep Utah’s unique, outdoor experience enjoyable for everyone.
As Utah’s population continues to explode, so do the number of people visiting Utah’s beautiful landscapes.
“There are some places throughout the state that are being loved to death" said Jason Curry, Director of the Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation. “We’ve seen the number of off-highway vehicles registered just triple. We’ve seen boating registrations going up, so there’s just a lot more people out and about; a lot more people outdoor recreating.”
Curry and his new team of 10 rangers patrol the state, making sure people are in compliance of things like off-road vehicle and boat registration.
“We don’t want the whole state to be overrun with foot traffic and OHV traffic and everything else," he said. “We use data and find where those hot spots are as far as outdoor recreation, so we know where to put our attention in terms of our education, our outreach and law-enforcement.”
The OHV adult registration course became available in January and it became a requirement this year for all adult riders and youth riders to have a certification.
Curry says rangers are already seeing a lot of compliance, closing in on 150,000 registrations out of the roughly 200,000 off-road vehicles in the state of Utah.
Even though the rangers are technically police officers who carry a badge and a gun, their main goal is to be educators, not enforcers.
“It’s really about keeping people safe and keeping the search and rescue incidents throughout the state to a controlled and manageable level," said Curry. "And law enforcement as well, because frankly, there are people out there who want to just completely ignore the rules.”
The team is currently in the middle of a strategic planning event with the Utah State University as they determine where those busy places are and the needs as far as outdoor recreation. Curry says there’s a lot of demand, but if they do it right, they’ll be prepared for the growth Utah’s population is expected to have.
