Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced the recipients of the first $50 million in grants on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday.
The initiative, first proposed by President Bush in 2006, aims to spend as much as $2 billion on park improvements by 2016, the 100 year anniversary of the park service.
"I really think this initiative will help preserve our parks for generations to come," said Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, who is the ranking member on the House's national parks subcommittee. "It's nice to see a couple of Utah projects on this first list, and I'm sure they'll add to what are already two spectacular spots in our state."
Zion National Park will spend its $150,000 to hire a park ranger to plan for Zion's centennial celebration next year, said Jock Whitworth, the park superintendent.
The money also will pay the expenses of an artist-in-residence program, which will allow artists to live in a renovated museum for a month at a time, in exchange for donating a piece of art to the park.
Half of the money came from the government and half from the Zion National History Association.
Cedar Breaks National Monument will use its $150,000 on what it calls its "Partners in the Park" program, which will send college honor students to national parks on 14 week-long trips between now and June 2009.
Southern Utah University provided the matching money, but the students won't necessarily come from Utah or go to Cedar Breaks, said superintendent Paul Roelandt.
Cedar Breaks is the sponsoring park for a national initiative that hopes to get college students invested in the outdoors and possibly interested in working for the park service.
