Environment

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) An oil and gas field near the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, pictured on Nov. 17, 2021. After a steady decline in production, drilling activity in the Uinta Basin is expect to rebound with rising energy prices. A new study by the University of Utah has found that 6 to 8% of the basin’s gas production escapes into the atmosphere. This photograph was taken on a flight provided by LightHawk.

Uinta Basin is hemorrhaging methane as leaks go undetected

By Brian Maffly | November 30, 2021, 9:29 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Robert Gehrke.

Gondola would be corporate welfare for Little Cottonwood resorts, Robert Gehrke writes

By Robert Gehrke | November 30, 2021, 8:18 p.m.

(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)

Feds eye natural gas line needed for Intermountain Power Project conversion from coal

By Brian Maffly | November 28, 2021, 9:13 p.m.

FILE - In this March 25, 2015, file photo, a pair of trumpeter swans stretch and preen on ice along a channel of open water at Westchester Lagoon in Anchorage, Alaska. No state currently has hunting seasons for trumpeter swans, which have made a comeback in recent decades thanks to efforts to reintroduce them. Now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working on a plan aimed at letting hunters shoot them legally in certain states that allow the hunting of tundra swans. (AP Photo/Dan Joling, File)

Once again, Utah hunters kill too many rare trumpeters swans

By Brian Maffly | November 26, 2021, 6:42 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.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) The area in Parleys Canyon, Nov. 22, 2021, where a proposed open-pit limestone quarry would be located, according to Utah mining regulators.

Major limestone quarry proposed for Parleys Canyon

By Brian Maffly | November 30, 2021, 5:33 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Romney Group, a private real estate investment company, is pushing for the creation of a 12,000-acre satellite port in Tooele County, which includes Erda. Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020.

Company’s plan for 12-mile rail bisecting wetlands worries Great Salt Lake advocates

By Leia Larsen | November 24, 2021, 12:11 a.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Birds decompose on the expanding shore of the Great Salt Lake on Saturday, July 10, 2021, as extreme drought conditions recede the water line to an unprecedented level.

Climate change and water woes redraw a major part of Utah’s map

By Brian Maffly | November 22, 2021, 10:04 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) The setting sun lights Antelope Island in the distance from the receding shore of the Great Salt Lake on Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021.

The Great Salt Lake is disappearing. If we don’t fix it, we’ll pay the cost with our health and economy, Robert Gehrke says

By Robert Gehrke | November 22, 2021, 1:00 p.m.

(Photo courtesy of the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration) Utah trust lands officials auctioned off an 8,107-acre block of land on Weber-Cache county line. The Cinnamon Creek tract, pictured here, started bidding at $19.5 million.

Utah Division of Wildlife purchases 8,000-acre property, marking largest sale in SITLA history

By Jordan Miller | November 18, 2021, 9:03 p.m.

(University of Utah) Artivism for Earth is a collection of art created by University of Utah professors that highlights the emotional realities of climate change.

See the climate change-inspired art put together by Utah musicians, poets and researchers

By Shelley K. Mesch | November 16, 2021, 9:20 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Trucks carrying shipping containers move 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.

The infrastructure bill could make Utah a leader in alternative fuels

By Leia Larsen | November 16, 2021, 2:15 p.m.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Mike Elson, the forest supervisor for Fishlake National Forest, lays down lines of fire with the use of a Terra Torch during a prescribed burn, Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021. The day's weather conditions of overcast skies and high relative humidity forced the cancelation of the burn after the sagebrush, juniper, pinyon pine and gambel oak would not catch fire. Utah's national forests are ramping up their use of controlled burning to improve forest health.

Here’s how officials want to save Utah’s forests

By Brian Maffly | November 15, 2021, 8:41 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Sen. Mitt Romney, right, joins Utah water managers and state leaders for a tour of a Central Utah Water Completion Act (CUPCA) construction site in South Utah County on Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. The recent infrastructure bill directs $50 million toward this project, which moves water from the Colorado River Basin to Wasatch Front cities.

Though hated by House Republicans, infrastructure bill wins kudos from Utah water community

By Brian Maffly | November 13, 2021, 7:55 p.m.

(Screenshot via Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Facebook) A young black bear cub found orphaned over the summer was released last week after rehabilitating at a wildlife facility.

Utah crews release orphaned bear cub after fattening her up for the winter

By Jordan Miller | November 12, 2021, 11:23 p.m.

(Screen shot courtesy of Utah Division of Wildlife Resources)
This video image depicts several dogs cornering a female black bear during a pursuit on May 19, 2018 in Grand County. The video was found on the phone of William "Bo" Wood, a Florida dog trainer now awaiting trial on felony charges stemming from the incident.

Jury convicts dog trainer in bear capture case

By Brian Maffly | November 12, 2021, 1:00 p.m.

Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune
The Intermountain Power Plant near Delta, Utah Friday April 12, 2013. The coal-fired plant, which will convert to natural gas and hydrogen in 2025, has fallen out of favor with rural lawmakers who are seeking to strip Intermountain Power Authority of exemptions it has long enjoyed to Utah's transparency laws.

Utah Lawmakers punish Intermountain Power, allege the utility’s interests no longer align with the state

By Brian Maffly | November 10, 2021, 11:50 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.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Fall colors make for a vibrant drive along Mill Creek Canyon above the winter gate on Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. Salt Lake County is proposing to widen the upper half of the 9-mile road, an upgrade that could alter the character of the popular year-round destination.

Major road upgrades on tap for Mill Creek, but will they improve popular canyon?

By Brian Maffly | November 4, 2021, 2:29 a.m.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Dr. Jaclyn Winter, Assistant Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Utah's College of Pharmacy, and her team of doctoral students are studying how microorganisms unique to the Great Salt Lake can be developed into pharmaceuticals. In her lab, samples from the lake are processed and studied to determine what therapeutic compounds they might produce, Oct. 26, 2021.

Great Salt Lake could be home to the next medicinal breakthrough

By Shelley K. Mesch | November 3, 2021, 3:37 p.m.