Utah is weary of waiting for federal funds to complete a heralded swap of recreational lands near Moab in exchange for energy swaths in the Uinta Basin, so state school trust officials plan to start paying appraisers themselves to seal the deal.

James M. Lekas of Vernal has been named to the seven-member board of trustees for the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration.

La Sal Trust Lands project targets off-highway vehicle use
A school Trust Lands pilot project involving 28,000 acres in the La Sal Mountains aims to tackle impacts of a 41 percent increase in trails created by off-highway vehicle (OHV) use.