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Moab • Nearly all the state's 104 lawmakers hit the road Wednesday for a two-day trip through rural Utah to visit power plants, oil refineries and a national park.

The bus trip will wind through central and eastern Utah, with local officials in towns such as Price and Moab hopping aboard to speak to lawmakers about issues including education, energy production, tourism and public lands.

Lawmakers used to take yearly tours to far-flung parts of the state, but they stopped when the economic recession hit in 2008. With the economy improving, legislators decided last year to reinstate the trips to get a firsthand look at outlying areas.

"You get out into rural Utah; they have different needs, different issues, different concerns," said Rep. Jim Dunningan, R-Taylorsville, the House majority leader who helped organize the trip. "I think this is very valuable."

Among their stops is a decommissioned coal-fueled power plant in Helper. The 60-year-old facility was shuttered this year as stricter federal rules on mercury pollution took effect.

Also on the itinerary: an oil refinery and high school in Green River, the redrock cliffs and buttes of Dead Horse Point State Park and a coal-powered plant near Castle Dale. Lawmakers also will get a chance to tour Arches National Park or take a boat tour on the nearby Colorado River.

They will be shuttled around by three buses, where they will hear from rural mayors, county officials and representatives from tourism and energy industries. No official votes or other action will happen on the trip.

The Legislature is paying about $70,000 for the two-day excursion.

Steven Allred, with the legislative fiscal analyst office, said a typical day of interim meetings that lawmakers hold during the summer costs about $39,000.

Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake City, questioned the tours last summer and asked whether the Legislature should instead save money by sending a small committee of lawmakers that studies a particular issue, such as education.

But Davis, who said he couldn't make the trip because of other commitments, said Tuesday that he believes it's worth the money and sends an important message when most of the Legislature rolls into small towns to focus on local issues.

"It's not a big party," he said.

This year's trip, Davis said, is a far cry from trips he remembers lawmakers taking in the 1990s, when legislators were paid to drive their own cars and had enough free time to squeeze in a round of golf.

With stronger ethics rules and increased scrutiny on state spending, "those days are gone," Davis said.

The 19 senators and 62 House representatives on the trip are expected to return to Salt Lake City on Thursday night.