Brian Maffly
Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake City, UT, United States
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Recent articles by Brian:
Utah wants to put a price tag on its public lands, but is the effort worth it?
What would Utah’s 35 million acres of federally managed public lands be worth if they were privately owned? → Read More
Utah says no to EnergySolutions accepting depleted uranium from military, but will it change course in the future?
Radioactive munitions won’t be buried in Utah’s West Desert anytime soon after a decision issued Thursday by state regulators, who rejected EnergySolutions’ emergency request to accept several thousand tons of armor-piercing projectile points made of heavier-than-lead depleted uranium. → Read More
A year after southern Utah’s Brian Head Fire, the aspens are bouncing back in a surprising way that could strengthen the forest
Brian Head • This past summer, a year after 72,000 acres of high-elevation woodlands burned around southwestern Utah’s Markagunt Plateau, residents of the nearby resort town of Brian Head noticed something strange: Tiny white cottony puffs drifted through the air and piled up on the ground like a downy blanket. → Read More
Hikers moaned when Zion Narrows was closed. Here are five other popular Utah destinations where private property questions could threaten access.
Zion National Park stunned visitors recently when it stopped issuing permits for one of its bucket-list hikes, the 16-mile slot-canyon journey through the Zion Narrows, after the family that owns land the route crosses posted signs indicating access was subject to “trespassing fees.” → Read More
Get a wild horse and $1k. It’s the latest offer to reduce the number of penned animals that some think should be slaughtered.
Federal land managers are so desperate to reduce the staggering number of wild horses held in permanent captivity they will pay $1,000 for every horse you adopt, as long as you promise to provide a good home. → Read More
Utah just experienced its driest year since scientists have kept records
Since official weather records have been kept, Utah has never experienced a year with as little precipitation as it did in 2018 and only one previous year registered higher average temperatures. → Read More
Criticism high, bidding low for Utah’s biggest oil, gas lease sale since the Bush years. Sensitive areas near Canyonlands auctioned.
Critics have been saying it for months. Under President Donald Trump, Utah’s scenic public lands are being sold off to the highest bidder. → Read More
Fires close part of southern Utah’s Bryce Canyon
Sparked by lightning several days ago, two wind-whipped wildfires burning near the southeastern edge of Bryce Canyon National Park expanded quickly Saturday, forcing some trail closures. → Read More
The fragile artifacts of John Wesley Powell’s famed expedition to Utah will be on display, but just for one day
Earlier this year, University of Utah geology professor Marjorie Chan was giving a speech at Illinois State University when she told her host, Dave Malone, about her interest in Western Americana and her desire to visit area antique shops. → Read More
Why is the Great Salt Lake half red and half blue?
A railroad causeway built in 1959 cut Utah’s Great Salt Lake into two very different lakes, ecologically speaking, as seen in this striking drone footage posted by ABC News on Wednesday. The water north of the causeway is a deep red, reflecting its highly saline chemistry. → Read More
Utah copes with drying streams, dying animals as drought tightens its grip — with no relief in sight
After one of the hottest and driest summers on record, Utah’s water supplies are so low that agricultural water deliveries have been cut short, stream gauges need to be repositioned to measure paltry flows, young deer and elk are dying and ranchers are liquidating their herds. → Read More
Why is Emigration Creek — a historic Utah waterway — dry? Blame runs from climate change to drought to development to water-sucking wells.
The creek winding down Emigration Canyon once sustained Mormon pioneers’ inaugural crops planted in the summer of 1847 and helped water the Intermountain West’s first major settlement for decades. → Read More
Is Utah coal bound for Baja California? Officials strike a deal with the Mexican state, where a port could ship it overseas.
The West’s coal country has long sought to offset declining domestic coal consumption through exports to Pacific Rim countries. But politically liberal West Coast cities and states have gotten in the way, obstructing proposals for new coal-handling terminals. → Read More
What the new plans mean for mining, grazing, recreation and artifacts in Grand Staircase and Bears Ears
Mining and drilling would not be allowed in the 1 million acres remaining in Grand Staircase, along with 210,000 acres removed from the monument. That would leave nearly 700,000 acres stripped from the monument open to mining for coal, tar sands and other minerals and drilling for oil and gas — with some stipulations to protect nonmineral resources. The Bureau of Land Management’s preferred… → Read More
Stay out of Utah Lake, health officials warn, as algal danger spreads
Utah Lake has become one big, toxic bowl of cyanobacteria soup. → Read More
You may have to reserve a time to see Delicate Arch, but is such a system really the best way to rescue Arches from adventure-killing congestion?
You may not need a reservation to tour Arches National Park — yet — but visitors should resign themselves to advance planning if they want to experience the southern Utah park’s sandstone wonders without being stuck in their cars. → Read More
Want to get cash for killing a coyote? Utah’s bounty program now requires more info to fight fraud.
A West Jordan couple provided Utah wildlife officials with 237 coyote scalps over the past couple of years, cashing in each one for $50 under a bounty program targeting the pesky predator. → Read More
San Juan County judge rejects delay in felony gate-closing case, but moves activists’ May 23 trial to Price
A Utah judge has cleared the way to try Rose Chilcoat and husband Mark Franklin later this month on criminal charges of trying to kill cattle in San Juan County, rejecting defense motions that attacked the basis for a prosecution that Chilcoat’s supporters say is politically motivated. → Read More
Feds grant Utah’s largest coal producer a royalty discount worth up to $19 million for mining hard-to-reach deposits
Utah’s largest coal mine is getting a fee discount worth up to $19 million after the Bureau of Land Management authorized a royalty reduction in recognition of unspecified difficulties the company faces in extracting certain deposits of coal. → Read More
May is Utah’s Month of the Bird, Gov. Gary Herbert declares
May is for the birds, according to a declaration issued Monday by Utah. Gov. Gary Herbert. → Read More