From there, we've moved Outdoors around from Monday to Tuesday and, most recently, to Thursday. Coverage has expanded from a single page to a couple of pages on the back of Monday's sports page to national-award-winning five- and six-page sections.

Starting Aug. 31, in a back-to-the-future sort of move, Outdoors is moving from its longtime Thursday spot to Sunday and is being combined with the newspaper's Travel pages.

Though the new section will have a different look, it will contain many of the elements of both sections.

Popular features such as Hook Shot, Where Is It, the birding column, Hike of the Week and Outdoor Notebook will continue. So will the travel briefs that include a top 10 list, reviews of travel-related books, Web information and new gear.

The new combined Outdoors and Travel will emphasize local and regional events and issue-oriented reporting along with an occasional national or international travel piece.

Longtime Tribune outdoor writer Brett Prettyman and I will continue to write our respective opinion columns on alternating weeks. There will be occasions when both will run the same day.

In addition, Brett and I will soon launch a daily blog filled with news and opinion on www.sltrib.com, where we will comment on breaking outdoor and travel news. The hope is also to generate more interaction with readers.

This isn't to say that Sunday is the only day readers will see outdoors coverage.

The redesigned Thursday section, part of the paper's Mix concept, will include an outdoor-oriented place or event, usually featuring something coming up that weekend. The same goes for travel, with an emphasis on local festivals and events.

Breaking outdoor news will appear in the daily sections of the newspaper. Outdoors-related special projects might appear in the Sunday section or run in the paper's news pages.

Brett and I bring more than 50 years of combined experience covering the outdoors in Utah to the new section. Add to that contributions from our "novices in nature" team of Maggie Thach and Roxana Orellana and contributions from other outdoor-oriented staffers, and there are few newspapers in the United States that offer readers as much outdoor content.

So, beginning Aug. 28, look for Thursday's new pre-weekend Mix section, and on Aug. 31, look for a new Outdoors/Travel section in Sunday's paper. And please let us know what you think.

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Tom Wharton writes about travel and the outdoors. Contact him at wharton@sltrib.com or 801-257-8909.