Utah’s national parks begin to reopen after state strikes deal

It didn’t take long for the National Park Service to begin opening closed gates and taking down barricades in Utah Friday morning. Even as Gov. Gary Herbert was announcing that the $1.7 million loan to get Utah’s national parks open had been sent to Washington, D.C., the gates at Zion National Park in Washington County were swinging open. "We are starting to open the park now," Zion spokesperson Aly Baltrus said via a text message about 9 a.m. "Normal park operations will be underway by Saturday."...more