In the 1950s, conservationists rejoiced in their successful campaign to stop the federal government from flooding swaths of Dinosaur National Monument with a dam on the Green River.

The intrigue: It turned out to be a pyrrhic victory — one that environmentalists would be ambivalent about for decades.

• This is Old News, our weekly float down the currents of Utah history.

What drove the news: In the Saturday Evening Post 75 years ago this week, celebrated journalist Bernard DeVoto called the nation's attention to a plan to erect dams that would replace Dinosaur's wild Lodore and Whirlpool canyons with reservoirs.

Behind the scenes: The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation quietly developed the plan over several years — without consulting the National Park Service, which manages the canyons.

• NPS officials were infuriated by their exclusion.

Zoom out: If Congress were to allow construction in Dinosaur, it would shift the balance of priorities throughout the nation's protected lands, favoring growth and development over preservation, DeVoto cautioned.

• He cited similar canceled plans that would have flooded parts of Mammoth Cave, Glacier and Grand Canyon national parks — some of which had been repeatedly revived.

What happened: DeVoto's warnings worked; the so-called Echo Park and Split Canyon dams in Dinosaur became conservationists' cause célèbre and letters opposing the dams "poured into Washington" that summer, historian Glenn Sandiford wrote.

• Federal officials eventually called off the project.

Why it mattered: By treating the dams as a point of national interest, DeVoto turned the campaign against them into the catalyzing force behind the modern conservation movement.

• That unity produced landmark policies like the 1964 Wilderness Act, Sandiford argued.

Yes, but: DeVoto had argued the Bureau and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers won Utahns' support by falsely claiming that no other site could facilitate the hydropower and irrigation the region needed.

• It turned out another site was being considered — and because it wasn't part of the NPS, it got far less attention than Dinosaur did.

The bottom line: When conservationists turned their attention to Glen Canyon — a remote area that few outside the Four Corners region had seen — the dam there became widely considered one of the movement's biggest losses of the 20th century.

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Breeze Airways is expanding operations westward with six new routes out of the Provo Airport, the Cottonwood Heights-based budget airline announced this week.

State of play: The new flights include nonstop and one-stop, no-plane-change service. Starting next March, passengers will be able to fly from Provo to:

• Arcata-Eureka, California
• Eugene, Oregon
• Burbank, California
• Las Vegas
• Pasco-Tri-Cities, Washington
• Redmond, Oregon

The big picture: The new western routes mark a major milestone for both the company, which launched its first flights in 2021 , and the state's second-largest airport, which began a three-year expansion in April

Between the lines: Breeze previously offered flights from Provo to Las Vegas.

Flashback: In 2021, Neeleman said there was an untapped market for non-stop flights between small cities and that "bypassing major hubs will allow travelers to save both time and money," AP reported at the time.

By the numbers: One-way fares start between $39-$49 through an introductory deal available until July 23.

• None of the routes are daily and are only available on certain days of the week.

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Salt Lakers have few excuses to skip leg day.

By the numbers: The Salt Lake metro had 16 gyms per 100,000 residents in Q3 2024, outpacing the national average of 13.6, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Why it matters: Gyms offer city dwellers a way to stay fit, and can serve as "third places" outside home or work.

How it works: These figures represent "fitness and recreational sports centers" in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages dat.

• Axios looked at metro areas with at least 500,000 residents, for which BLS had sufficient data.

The big picture: Utah ranks among the healthiest states in the nation thanks to its active residents and low rates of smoking and heavy drinking.

Between the lines: Gyms aren't just about fitness in Utah.

• The state is well-known for its image-centric culture.
• Salt Lake City contains more plastic surgeons per capita than Los Angeles, according to a 2024 Utah Women & Leadership Project study.

What we're watching: Popular gym chains, like Planet Fitness and Crunch Fitness, are swapping out cardio equipment to make room for more weights — reflecting our "increasingly muscle-obsessed population," as Bloomberg put it.

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🏠 Utah was listed No. 4 in the U.S. for building the most homes, according to a new study. (KSL.com)

🧑‍🚒 The Deer Creek Fire in San Juan County close to the Utah-Colorado border has burned more than 17,000 acres and is 30% contained as of yesterday. More than a dozen structures have been damaged by the blaze. (ABC 4)

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"Opportunity Knocks," an award-winning reality show on PBS, is searching nationwide for families to feature in its third season.

Why it matters: With as many as 90% of Americans citing money as a stressor, the series connects struggling families with financial coaching.

How it works: Each season, finance experts Jean Chatzky, Patrice Washington and Louis Barajas connected with six families across the U.S.

• Viewers follow contestants as they work to overcome debt and face mental and emotional challenges that have derailed them in the past.

What they're saying: The show "is not just for people who are on the verge of eviction. We've had people who look like they're living the American dream," Washington tells Axios.

What's next: Casting for Season 3 is open to anyone in the U.S. through Sept. 1.