Brian Maffly
Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake City, UT, United States
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Recent articles by Brian:
How did an alligator end up in Utah Lake?
A man angling for catfish on Utah Lake last weekend with his 8-year-old daughter instead caught a four-foot alligator, a tropical predator that has no business in Utah, at least outside a zoo. Neal, who ... → Read More
Is seven-county coalition squandering money earmarked for rural Utah?
Several mineral-rich eastern Utah counties banded together a few years ago to build costly commodity-moving projects needed by extractive industries to tap underground resources and get them to market. Utah’s isolation puts energy development at ... → Read More
BLM considers offering Utah's Recapture Canyon
Recapture Canyon is so rich in fragile Native American prehistory that it is closed to motorized use, yet the Bureau of Land Management is now proposing to lease the canyon east of Blanding for oil ... → Read More
Trump's BLM plans oil and gas leasing near Dino monument and San Rafael Swell
In another indication of how President Donald Trump’s “America First” energy strategy is playing out in Utah, the federal government has identified parcels it intends to lease for oil and gas development at the doorstep ... → Read More
Noel, other S. Utah politicians blame Brian Head Fire on 'tree-huggers,' beetles, but eco-groups say he's off-base
Southern Utah politicians on Monday blamed the Brian Head Fire’s fast pace and destructiveness on environmentalists who, they said, for decades have thwarted logging of trees killed by bark beetles. But the targeted groups contend ... → Read More
Do beetle-killed trees make wildfires worse? Brian Head blaze may provide surprising answers
The wildfire threatening a southern Utah resort town this week raced through a forest that lost hundreds of thousands of spruce trees in a devastating bark-beetle outbreak. While it remains unclear how much of a ... → Read More
'This is our homeland': Panelists say they'll do whatever it takes to protect Bears Ears
Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk knew getting into politics would require toughness, but nothing prepared the Ute Mountain Ute Council member for the treatment she received when she spoke last year before a Utah legislative panel in support ... → Read More
Oil and gas industry will pounce if Bears Ears shrinks
In making their case for rescinding Bears Ears National Monument, Utah officials have downplayed the potential for oil and gas development on the lands that five tribes persuaded President Barack Obama’s administration to set aside ... → Read More
Utah's top wildlife official named to U.S. post
The U.S. Interior Department has named Utah’s top wildlife official as deputy director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, helping fill a leadership vacuum that has persisted for more than four months. For the past ... → Read More
BLM yanks oil and gas leases proposed near Zion after complaints from residents
After getting an earful from local residents and state officials about possible drilling near Zion National Park, the Bureau of Land Management on Friday reversed course on proposed oil and gas leases on 4,730 acres ... → Read More
Trump's decision to pull out of climate accord draws mixed reaction from Zinke, Utahns
President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from participation in the Paris climate accord, announced Thursday, is drawing a mixed reaction. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who oversees much of the nation’s energy production from ... → Read More
Businesses race to rescue Bonanza Flats
With time running out on the $38 million deal to conserve Bonanza Flats, several Park City-based businesses are backing last-ditch fundraising efforts to cover the remaining $2.6 million gap with two weeks remaining before a ... → Read More
Bears Ears critics' numbers are misleading: A look at early monument sizes
Bears Ears National Monument critics routinely point to the sprawling reach of President Barack Obama’s proclamation, taking in the swath of canyon country from the San Juan River north to Indian Creek, as the monument’s ... → Read More
Bears Ears comments weigh heavily in favor of monument
Commenters on both sides of the Bears Ears National Monument debate say Utah’s Cedar Mesa and surrounding lands should be protected, yet many remarks submitted to the Interior Department reflect intense distrust of monument proponents’ ... → Read More
Utah conservationist buys Needles Outpost for $2.5 million at SITLA auction
A Utah trust-lands parcel at the Needles entrance to Canyonlands National Park fetched $2.5 million Wednesday from a conservation buyer after a brief bidding war. The square-mile section — long-time home of the Needles Outpost ... → Read More
Presidents can't undo national monuments, new study says
As Utah political leaders continue predicting President Donald Trump will shrink or even erase the new Bears Ears National Monument, a soon-to-be published legal analysis concludes that presidents have no authority to mess with monuments ... → Read More
BLM guard station burns in Bears Ears
The Bureau of Land Management is investigating a suspicious fire that recently damaged a remote guard station in Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument. The incident occurred on Elk Ridge north of the twin Bears Ears ... → Read More
Utah school-trust lands agency wants millions more for hunting access
A long-standing agreement that has assured hunter access to Utah trust lands could be unraveling as state officials squabble behind closed doors over how much this access should cost taxpayers. For the past two decades, ... → Read More
Town wants to limit access to Utah's popular Kanarra Creek Canyon
Located just north of Zion National Park, Kanarra Creek Canyon has become one of Utah’s busiest hiking destinations, but the two-mile trail to a slot canyon and waterfalls also introduced at least 40,000 people to ... → Read More
After hearing from Utahns, Zinke confident he can resolve conflict over Bears Ears National Monument
Indian Creek, San Juan County • After three days in Utah, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is more confident than ever that he can forge a resolution to the state’s divisive fight over Bears Ears National ... → Read More