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(Zak Podmore | The Salt Lake Tribune) A San Juan County sign identifying an early voting location in Bluff, Utah, on Oct. 23, 2019.

Voting rights debate reignites in San Juan County with new commission, school board district proposals

By Zak Podmore | December 2, 2021, 4:08 p.m.

(Jerry McBride | The Durango Herald via AP) In this Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015 file photo, people kayak in the Animas River near Durango, Colo., in water colored yellow from a mine waste spill. A crew supervised by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been blamed for causing the spill while attempting to clean up the area near the abandoned Gold King Mine. Tribal officials with the Navajo Nation declared an emergency on Monday, Aug. 10, as the massive plume of contaminated wastewater flowed down the San Juan River toward Lake Powell in Utah, which supplies much of the water to the Southwest.

Scientists working to understand record of mine-related contamination in sediment below Lake Powell

By Zak Podmore | November 29, 2021, 9:55 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The rising sun ignites the Colorado River with color at the North Wash take out in October of 2021 offering the only nearby option for boaters as low Lake Powell reservoir levels closed Hite Marina just down river in the early 2000s.

As Lake Powell shrinks, the Colorado River is coming back to life

By Zak Podmore | November 9, 2021, 2:03 p.m.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Several off-road utility terrain vehicles (UTVs) motor down Main Street in Moab towards the Sand Flats Recreation Area trail, located just 4 miles from downtown, Feb. 19, 2021.

Moab grapples with housing costs, off-highway vehicle noise in crowded mayoral race

By Zak Podmore | October 27, 2021, 8:45 p.m.

(Rick Bowmer | AP, pool) Utah Gov. Spencer Cox takes a selfie with Rep. Blake Moore, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson and Sen. Mitt Romney during a tour by ancient dwellings along the Butler Wash trail at the Bears Ears National Monument Thursday, April 8, 2021, near Blanding.

What does Biden’s national monuments decision mean for legal challenges to the Antiquities Act?

By Zak Podmore | October 11, 2021, 1:18 p.m.

(Zak Podmore | The Salt Lake Tribune) Tara Benally, field director for the Rural Utah Project and member of the Women of Bears Ears, speaks to reporters about the restoration of Bears Ears National Monument at a press conference held atop Muley Point in San Juan County on Friday, Oct. 8, 2021.

Bears Ears supporters celebrate Biden’s restoration of Utah monuments at Cedar Mesa gathering

By Zak Podmore | October 10, 2021, 10:58 p.m.

(Invent Development Partners) A conceptual design for the first phase of the Lionsback Resort, a vacation development in Moab that is currently under construction.

Lionsback Resort above Moab is under construction, after delays and litigation

By Zak Podmore | October 10, 2021, 8:42 p.m.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Bears Ears buttes April 10, 2021.

What changes in Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante with Biden’s order?

By Zak Podmore | October 8, 2021, 10:19 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Parnell Thomas checks on some gas lines near his home north of Montezuma Creek, on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021.

Residents call for reform after hydrogen sulfide gas leak on Navajo Nation

By Zak Podmore | October 2, 2021, 12:00 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) A proposed highway is once again being considered that would cut through the Book Cliffs in Grand County, connecting with State Road 45 south of Vernal, pictured here.

Will controversial Book Cliffs Highway proposal increase tourism or boost oil and gas production?

By Zak Podmore | September 27, 2021, 12:00 p.m.

(Courtesy of Energy Fuels) Guests tour the White Mesa Mill in San Juan County, which produces uranium, vanadium and rare earth minerals. Sept. 16, 2021.

Is Utah’s uranium industry key to a green energy future or a radioactive threat?

By Zak Podmore | September 26, 2021, 7:26 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Sprinklers run at Reservoir Park in the middle of the afternoon heat during peak evaporations times on Monday afternoon, July 19, 2021, near the University of Utah campus.

Utah residents use the most water of any Western state. They also pay some of the lowest water rates.

By Zak Podmore | September 20, 2021, 3:34 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Traffic on I-80 in Parley's Canyon on Thursday, July 1, 2021. Vehicle emissions are a significant contributor to ozone pollution in Utah.

‘It could take years’ to solve ozone pollution on the Wasatch Front, state regulator says

By Zak Podmore | September 15, 2021, 10:54 p.m.

(Leah Hogsten | Salt Lake Tribune) Comb Ridge, located within the Bears Ears National Monument, June 26, 2020.

‘Sagebrush Empire’ explores San Juan County’s history and politics with nuance, humor and meticulous research

By Zak Podmore | September 4, 2021, 12:00 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) High ozone levels create smog along the Wasatch Front in 2017, but mining and fossil fuel groups argue there is little state can do to reduce emissions do to complex sources for the pollution.

The EPA said Utah’s ozone pollution was harming public health. Industry groups pushed the state to blame China instead.

By Zak Podmore | August 26, 2021, 12:34 a.m.

(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) The Surface Atmosphere Integrated Field Laboratory (SAIL) near Crested Butte, Colo., will start collecting a vast range of weather data on September 1, when scientists flip the switch on a slew of machinery that has been amassed in the Upper Colorado River Basin.

Forecasters couldn’t predict how quickly Colorado River reservoirs would dry up this year. Scientists are trying to improve their models.

By Zak Podmore | August 25, 2021, 12:00 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Due to the low water levels, Kayakers have to haul their kayaks another 30-50 yards to the water past the abandoned Antelope Public Launch Ramp, at Lake Powell, on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. Water levels are dropping a few inches a day, which may bring an early end to kayaking on the lake in the next week or so, shortening a season that usually goes through the end of October.

National Park Service struggles to keep boat ramps open as Lake Powell hits historic low

By Zak Podmore | August 7, 2021, 2:22 p.m.

(Zak Podmore | The Salt Lake Tribune) Flooding briefly covered Moab's Main Street on the evening of Wednesday, July 28, 2021.

Moab’s Main Street floods briefly in summer monsoon

By Zak Podmore | July 29, 2021, 3:42 p.m.

(Wikimedia Commons) Many Native American students from the Navajo Nation and elsewhere attended the Intermountain Indian School in Brigham City, Utah, between 1950 to 1984.

Indigenous-led nonprofit asks to help federal investigation into abuses at Native American boarding schools

By Zak Podmore | July 28, 2021, 5:09 p.m.

(Zak Podmore | The Salt Lake Tribune) An agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation poses with Utah Navajo Health System's victim advocates Jessica Holiday (second from left), Tonya Grass, Lynn Bia and Danialle Whitehat, who received a community leadership award from the FBI in Montezuma Creek on Wednesday, July 14, 2021.

‘We’re going to tell our stories’: Diné victim advocates are overcoming stigma and limited resources to develop a community-based response to sexual violence

By Zak Podmore | July 19, 2021, 12:00 p.m.

(Zak Podmore | The Salt Lake Tribune) Hank Stevens, Navajo Nation representative and co-chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, sits on the trailer carrying the Lummi Nation's totem pole from Washington state to Washington, D.C., on Saturday, July 17, 2021.

Indigenous leaders call on Biden to enlarge Bears Ears as 25-foot totem pole travels from Washington state to Washington, D.C.

By Zak Podmore | July 19, 2021, 10:09 p.m.

(Zak Podmore | The Salt Lake Tribune) Survey stakes along a hillside 14 miles north of Monticello indicate a renewed interest in uranium mining in San Juan County. June 14, 2021.

Utah uranium mines being eyed by Australian company

By Zak Podmore | July 15, 2021, 8:14 p.m.

(Sorø Films) Noah Begay (left) and his father have a discussion outside of Navajo Mountain in the new documentary film "Scenes from the Glittering World."

New film documents the joys, hardships students face at one of the most remote high schools in the country

By Zak Podmore | June 28, 2021, 12:00 p.m.

(Under Canvas Lake Powell-Grand Staircase) Under Canvas, a luxury camping company, currently operates three resorts throughout Utah. Two more have been proposed.

‘Glamping’ development proposal near Moab is generating an uproar

By Zak Podmore | June 27, 2021, 12:00 p.m.

(Liz Thomas) The right fork of Mill Creek near Moab after its flow was reduced to less than one cubic foot of water per second on June 12. Water from the creek was used to fight the Pack Creek Fire, but officials say more water was diverted than intended.

Moab’s Mill Creek ran dry after water was diverted to fight the Pack Creek Fire, killing hundreds of fish

By Zak Podmore | June 26, 2021, 1:20 a.m.