U.S. Agriculture Department designates 24 counties in Utah as disaster areas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 24 counties in Utah as natural disaster areas because of drought, wildfires and flash floods this year.

The declaration allows farmers and ranchers to apply for low-interest emergency loans and to take advantage of any disaster programs that pass the Congress this year, according to a news release today from Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah.

USDA Secretary Mike Johanns sent a letter Tuesday to Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. saying the governor's request for the disaster-area designations had been granted for the 24 counties. Those counties are: Beaver, Box Elder, Cache, Carbon, Davis, Duchesne, Emery, Garfield, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, Morgan, Piute, Rich, Salt Lake, San Juan, Sanpete, Summit, Tooele, Uintah, Utah, Washington and Weber.

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