Portal:Utah
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 Utah is a western state of the United States, in the Rocky Mountain region. The name Utah is from the Southern Ute language and means "higher up." In addition to the Ute Tribe, the Paiute, Navajo, and Goshute nations also inhabit portions of the state.  Utah had a population of 2,389,039 in 2004, according to a Census Bureau estimate. About 85% of Utah's population resides in the valleys and on the western slope of the Wasatch Mountains in northern and central Utah. Residents are called Utahns. The state is generally rugged and arid, and has spectacular natural scenery. It is a popular summer and winter tourist destination. Salt Lake City, the ski resorts in the Wasatch Range, and the national parks of the south are the most popular destinations. Utah's capital is Salt Lake City, a vibrant metropolitan city, but the small community of Fillmore, in Millard County, was designated as the original state capital when the state was admitted to the union in 1896. Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics, which gave a significant boost to the state's tourist industry (especially the ski resorts). Salt Lake City, Utah is also the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon Church, Portal:Latter-day Saints), of which approximately 60% of Utah residents are members. The LDS Church has a strong cultural influence on the state and helped Utah to become one of just two states where gambling is illegal. The geology of the Zion and Kolob canyons area includes nine known exposed formations, all visible in Zion National Park in the state of Utah in the United States, and representing about 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation. Part of the Grand Staircase, the formations exposed in the Zion and Kolob area were deposited in several different environments that range from warm shallow seas, streams, and lakes to large deserts and dry near shore environments. Subsequent uplift of the Colorado Plateau exposed these sediments to erosion by streams that preferentially cut through weaker rocks and jointed formations. Much later, lava flows and cinder cones covered parts of the Zion area. Zion National Park includes an elevated plateau that consists of sedimentary formations that dip very gently to the east. This means that the oldest strata are exposed along the Virgin River in the Zion Canyon part of the park, and the youngest are exposed in the Kolob Canyons section. The plateau is bounded on the east by the Sevier Fault Zone, and on the west by the Hurricane Fault Zone. Weathering and erosion along north-trending faults and fractures influence the pattern of landscape features associated with canyons in this stream-incised plateau region.  Michael Leavitt (born February 11, 1951 in Cedar City, Utah) was the a 14th Governor of the state of Utah, the 10th Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is currently the Secretary of Health and Human Services. He was first elected to Governor in 1992, then he was re-elected in 1996 and in 2000 became only the second governor in Utah history to be re-elected to a third term. As Governor, he held leadership positions in national and regional organizations, such as the Council of State Governments, over which he presided for a year. While governor, Leavitt and Roy Romer of Colorado were the two key founders of Western Governors University (WGU) one of the first exclusively online schools in the nation. In addition to Leavitt and Romer, seventeen others were signatory governors creating WGU as a non-profit private university. On August 11, 2003, Governor Leavitt was nominated by President George W. Bush to be the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at a press conference in Aurora, Colorado. He was confirmed to this office on October 28, 2003 by a vote of 88-8 in the United States Senate. Leavitt resigned the Utah governor's office on November 5. He was sworn in as the 10th Administrator of the EPA the following day. On December 13, 2004, Leavitt was nominated by Bush to succeed Tommy Thompson as Secretary of Health and Human Services and was confirmed by the Senate by voice vote on January 26, 2005. 
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 The Virgin River Narrows in Zion National Park Photo credit: PDphoto.org Articles:
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