Environment

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Agricultural operations are seen along the Bear River, the Great Salt Lake's largest tributary, in December 2021.

Don’t blame farms for drying up the Great Salt Lake. Why they could be key to its survival.

By Leia Larsen | May 21, 2022, 1:00 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Looking south from Interstate 80 near 7800 West, on Friday, May 20, 2022. The Utah Inland Port Authority is seeking to buy land, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the area to develop future rail facilities for the port.

Utah Inland Port fast-tracks bid to acquire LDS Church land for rail operations

By Brian Maffly | May 21, 2022, 12:53 p.m.

(Zak Podmore | The Salt Lake Tribune) Trash outside the abandoned None Such uranium mine in San Juan County, June 14, 2021. Radon occurs naturally in the presence of radioactive elements, such as uranium and radium.

One in three homes in Utah has dangerous radon levels. Here’s what can be done

By Brian Maffly | May 20, 2022, 2:08 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The boat marina on Antelope Island is rendered inoperable as The Great Salt Lake continues to shrink as seen on Tuesday, March 15, 2022.

Rescue Great Salt Lake with seawater from the Pacific? Utah lawmakers consider it

By Brian Maffly | May 19, 2022, 1:36 p.m.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Union Pacific Railroad's Roper Yard in South Salt Lake is a large train car switching yard where the railroad assembles long trains for transport to other cities, Feb. 23, 2022. Union Pacific is balking at some of the plans of the Utah Inland Port Authority.

Emissions admissions, train troubles and a surveillance network — More details emerge about Utah’s inland port

By Leia Larsen | May 18, 2022, 5:54 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Glen Canyon Institute executive director Erik Balken compares the "Cathedral in the Desert" in Clear Creek Canyon with photos in a historical photo journal of Glen Canyon, on Monday, May 17, 2021.

Only 25 years ago, draining Lake Powell was dismissed as ‘looney’ — then the megadrought started

By Zak Podmore | May 18, 2022, 2:47 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The two buttes that make up the namesake for the Bears Ears National Monument can be seen in the distant horizon line as EcoFlight takes journalists, tribal people and activists over the Bears Ears Monday, May 8, 2017. The Utah Legislature has approved a deal to swap state trust lands in and around the monument for 165,000 federal acres in 21 counties.

Utah lawmakers approve Bears Ears land swap

By Brian Maffly | May 18, 2022, 10:51 p.m.

(The New York Times) The nation’s wildfire risk is widespread, severe and accelerating quickly, according to new data that, for the first time, calculates the risk facing every property in the contiguous United States.

Here’s the first-ever map showing wildfire risk to American homes

By Christopher Flavelle | The New York Times | May 17, 2022, 9:11 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The northeast flank of Grandeur Peak, pictured on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021, would be the site of a massive limestone under a proposal by a Parleys Canyon property owner.

Salt Lake County mining ban draws lawsuit from Parleys quarry developers

By Brian Maffly | May 17, 2022, 12:00 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Land owned by the Bureau of Land Management adjacent to Interstate 15 in Washington County, Thursday, May 12, 2022. The town of Toquerville is looking to acquire the land that private developers would turn into a sprawling recreational complex, with parks, trails and a charter school.

Tiny Toquerville wants 600 acres of public land for massive recreation destination

By Brian Maffly | May 16, 2022, 12:00 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Great Salt Lake, near Saltair on Saturday, March 26, 2022. Warm weather is expected to kick up more dust from the exposed lakebed.

N. Utah seeing its worst dust in a decade. Why the drying Great Salt Lake isn’t to blame — yet.

By Leia Larsen | May 13, 2022, 3:03 p.m.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) The prominent narrowing of Temple Fork Canyon, in the foreground, is where the proposed Temple Fork Dam dam would be located and the reservoir in the background, as seen Tuesday, May 3, 2022, in Logan Canyon.

Big dam, small dam, no dam — What’s the right water answer for this growing Utah community?

By Leia Larsen | May 12, 2022, 3:02 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Shipping containers are moved by rail in and out of the Union Pacific intermodal terminal at a steady pace, west of Salt Lake City. Directly south is the future site of the transloading facility, which will be the heart of the inland port, as seen on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021.

‘We are a solution’ — How Utah’s inland port hopes to ease supply chain woes

By Leia Larsen | May 12, 2022, 12:00 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Poor air quality obscures the Oquirrh Mountains and downtown Salt Lake City, as seen from the University of Utah on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. On Saturday, May 7, 2022, wind-blown dust caused air quality to reach "unhealthy" levels, according to the Utah Division of Environmental Quality.

Haze over Salt Lake City causes ‘unhealthy’ air quality on Saturday

By Jeff Parrott | May 7, 2022, 3:50 p.m.

(Courtesy photo by Ray Bloxham, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance) Utah’s remote Henry Mountains in Garfield County are home to free-roaming herd of bison. A land trade is in the works where nearby ranchers would exchange their private inholdings on the range’s west slope with public land that could then be developed in fast-growing Washington County.

Southern Utah land swap would give bison more room to roam, but at what cost?

By Brian Maffly | May 7, 2022, 10:17 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) The shore of the Great Salt Lake on Stansbury Island on Saturday, March 26, 2022. The lake could shrink another 2 feet, hitting a record low for a second consecutive year, due to Utah's persistent drought.

Stifling drought to take its toll on Great Salt Lake, lawns, wildlife and why recent rains won’t change that

By Leia Larsen | May 6, 2022, 6:22 p.m.

(Brian Maffly | The Salt Lake Tribune) This wastewater equipment, photographed on March 18, 2022, is to be installed at the Canyon Meadows subdivision in Wasatch County.

When the land wouldn’t support septic tanks, a Provo Canyon subdivision tries its own mini sewer system

By Brian Maffly | May 5, 2022, 2:59 p.m.

(Zak Podmore | The Salt Lake Tribune) Crews with the Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service net endangered fish below the Piute Farms Waterfall in what used to be the San Juan arm of Lake Powell on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. As Utah's largest reservoir continues dropping, federal officials announced new measures to get more water into Powell to ensure continued power generation at Glen Canyon Dam.

Spilling water from Flaming Gorge to feed Lake Powell, feds will try to keep Glen Canyon Dam operational

By Brian Maffly | May 4, 2022, 12:00 p.m.

(Zak Podmore | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Colorado River carves through sediment that was deposited in Lake Powell when the reservoir was higher, April 10, 2022.

Deltas of sediment are pushing into Glen Canyon as Lake Powell disappears

By Zak Podmore | May 11, 2022, 6:43 p.m.

Brian Maffly | The Salt Lake Tribune
Rocky Mountain Power the Huntington Power Plant in central Utah, seen in this file photo.

As Utah’s drought persists, clean energy advocates say it’s time to power down water-guzzling coal plants

By Leia Larsen | May 1, 2022, 1:00 p.m.