On Sunday, the Traveler’s Lynn Riddick talks with two Capitol Reef National Park officials to get some historic perspective on the park's Fruita orchards…and to discuss details of a substantial rehabilitation project getting under way.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to allow two conservation groups to intervene in Utah cases involving state efforts to have dirt washes, seasonal streambeds, and possibly even cattle trails and hiking paths declared roads across federal lands.

The southern half of Utah is canyon country, a land of aridity, sparse vegetation, and unique and scenically spectacular topography and geology. It is a land rich in sites of archaeological importance and parts of it are sacred to indigenous people. It is also mostly public land, owned by the American people, part of their national legacy, and for a century it has been contested terrain.

From searing temperatures at Death Valley National Park to surging Colorado River waters through Grand Canyon National Park, this week is one that beckons national park visitors to be particularly careful on their Western vacations.