Zak Podmore

Report for America corps member

Zak is a Report for America corps member covering conflict and change in San Juan County for The Tribune. He has been writing from Bluff, Utah, since 2015 and is the author of Confluence: Navigating the Personal & Political On Rivers of the New West from Torrey House Press.

(Courtesy of the Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President) Navajo Tribal Utility Authority officials and Miss Navajo Nation Shaandiin Parrish look on as Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez signs the lease agreement for the Red Mesa Tapaha Solar Generation Plant in Red Mesa, Ariz., on April 7, 2020. He was joined by Council Delegate Charlaine Tso (bottom, right) and Red Mesa Chapter officials, including Red Mesa Chapter Vice President Marilyn Holly (bottom, left) and President Herman Farley (bottom, second from left).

Navajo Nation solar project will cement San Juan County’s position as exporter of renewable energy

By Zak Podmore | April 19, 2021, 4:50 p.m.

(Rick Bowmer | AP, pool) U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland tours near ancient dwellings along the Butler Wash Trail with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, right, and other officials during a visit to Bears Ears National Monument Thursday, April 8, 2021, near Blanding.

Biden is poised to expand Bears Ears and Grand Staircase monuments. The real question is by how much?

By Brian Maffly | Matt Canham | Zak Podmore | April 11, 2021, 12:00 p.m.

(Chris Detrick | Tribune file photo) In this 2010 file photo, Albert Cly, 71, shows off the solar electricity panels he installed in his home in the Westwater Navajo community. The 16 residents of Westwater live without running water or electricity, despite the community's proximity to Blanding.

Tiny Navajo community in Utah moves closer than ever to getting water and power

By Zak Podmore | April 9, 2021, 3:43 p.m.

(Zak Podmore | Tribune file photo) Looking west from a parcel of Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) land that was leased to an oil and gas company in October before the leasing fees were refunded. The parcel overlaps with the original boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument, which President Joe Biden has promised to restore.

Utah agency reverses course, pulls back energy leases in original Bears Ears monument

By Zak Podmore | April 9, 2021, 3:33 p.m.

(Rick Bowmer | AP file photo) This June 10, 2019, photo shows the Wasatch Range near Salt Lake City when the state's snowpack was about 150 percent higher than the historical average. Utah's snowpack has been augmented by an extensive cloud seeding program that's received state funds most years since 1973.

Utah is a leader in cloud seeding. Is it working?

By Zak Podmore | April 9, 2021, 3:32 p.m.

(Graeme Jennings | AP file photo) In this Feb. 23, 2021, photo, Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., is sworn in during a Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing on her nomination to be Interior secretary on Capitol Hill in Washington. She will be visiting Utah next week.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to visit Utah next week to review monument boundaries

By Zak Podmore | April 9, 2021, 3:31 p.m.

(Rick Bowmer | AP, pool) U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland tours near ancient dwellings along the Butler Wash Trail during a visit to Bears Ears National Monument Thursday, April 8, 2021, near Blanding. At right is Sen. Mitt Romney and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.

Biden has to ‘get this right,’ Deb Haaland says of monument decision after Bears Ears tour

By Zak Podmore | April 9, 2021, 3:28 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | Tribune file photo) In this Dec. 4, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump is surrounded by Utah leaders at the Utah Capitol, as well as then-San Juan County Commissioner Rebecca Benally (far left), as he signs the presidential proclamation to shrink Bears Ears national monument. San Juan County hired a law firm that paid several lobbyists to pressure then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke (center, top) and others in the Trump administration to make the cuts. Newly obtained emails show San Juan County's lobbying effort on Bears Ears.

Exclusive: ‘We will circle all the wagons’ — Newly obtained emails show San Juan County’s push to reduce Bears Ears

By Zak Podmore | April 8, 2021, 10:46 p.m.

(Leah Hogsten | Tribune file photo) Energy Fuels, which operates the only conventional uranium mill in the United States near Blanding, Utah, has applied for a permit to reprocess 660 tons of radioactive powder stored at the Silmet rare metals plant in Estonia, more than 5,000 miles away, for its uranium content. It also plans to export rare earth material to the same plant.

Now Utah uranium mill plans to export rare earth materials to Estonia

By Zak Podmore | March 22, 2021, 1:00 p.m.

(Leah Hogsten | Tribune file photo) Brenda Vijil, a Diné medical assistant at Utah Navajo Health System's Monument Valley Clinic, records an incoming patient's personal information before admittance into the triage unit to take vitals and administer a coronavirus test. Aug. 24, 2020.

Despair gives way to hope as San Juan leads Utah in vaccinations

By Zak Podmore | March 15, 2021, 3:32 p.m.