Brian Maffly
Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake City, UT, United States
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Recent articles by Brian:
Forest Service to spend millions to reduce risk of catastrophic fire in the Wasatch and western Uintas
The U.S. Forest Service plans to spend an additional $25 million on forest health projects this year aimed at reducing wildfire risk In Utah's Wasatch, Uinta and Pine Valley mountains. → Read More
Beaver County moves to enforce deal with its neighbor over groundwater pumping
Beaver County has signaled it will sue the state of Utah if the State Engineer fails reconsider its 2019 decision grant the rights to groundwater under Pine Valley to Iron County, which claims to need the water to meet the needs of fast-growing Cedar City. → Read More
Troubled coal mines to acquire federal leases through SITLA land exchanges — and skip environmental reviews
Utah expects to acquire two major coal tracts in the Dingell Act land exchanges to facilitate expansions at two troubled Emery County mines, Lila Canyon and Deep Emery → Read More
Utah rancher enjoys free home on the range, courtesy of U.S. taxpayers
The Bureau of Land Management has allowed ranchers Sandy and Gail Johnson to live on public land in Fry Canyon, now inside Bears Ears National Monument, without rent for 45 years. → Read More
Utah Lake’s would-be dredgers demand controversial island project be reinstated
Utah Lake dredging proponents claim state violated the law by rejecting their application to create a network of islands as a way to fix the lake's ecological problems. → Read More
As the West’s trumpeter swans recover, more wind up shot in Utah
Despite several measures aimed at discouraging the killing of trumpeters during Utah’s 73-day swan season, the swan harvest notched its 20th trumpeter on Nov. 17. → Read More
Coal continues burning at Utah mine as company tries to drill for answers
More than two weeks after a Utah coal mine caught fire, a coal deposit continues burning as operators try to drill into the Lila Canyon Mine seeking clues to help put out the fire. → Read More
Key takeaways from the failed sale of Utah’s Tabby Mountain
Editor’s note: This is a synopsis of the Tribune’s new reporting on what led to SITLA’s failed sale of Tabby Mountain in 2019. Read the complete story here. → Read More
Big Cottonwood Canyon trails no longer open to public after Forest Service agreement collapses
Hikers and skiers have lost access to an alpine outdoor destination thanks to a dispute between private property owners in Cardiff Fork and the U.S. Forest Service that has also locked out landowners. → Read More
Polling shows strong support for Utah Lake dredging, but critics say the survey is biased
Polling commissioned by the group proposing to dredge Utah Lake indicates strong support amount local residents for the controversial project. → Read More
Pay to play is coming to Wasatch trails, including Big and Little Cottonwood canyons
The U.S. Forest Service proposes recreation fees at 119 sites across the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. → Read More
Utah’s proposed oil railroad clears final regulatory hurdle
Utah's proposed oil-hauling Uinta Basin Railway cleared its final regulatory hurdle when the Forest Service rejected environmentalists' objections to a 12-mile right of way across the Ashley National Forest. → Read More
Officials blast Little Cottonwood gondola as ‘boondoggle,’ call on UDOT to start over with canyon plan
Local Salt Lake County leaders raise serious misgivings about a gondola proposed for Little Cottonwood Canyon that would ferry skiers up the ever-congested canyon to Alta and Snowbird. → Read More
Iron County growers propose 115 new wells into Escalante Valley groundwater
Businessmen in Enterprise are seeking rights to 50,000 acre-feet of water deep under Utah's Escalante Valley, even though this area's groundwater is already overallocated. → Read More
Why are so many new water wells to be drilled in Bears Ears?
A few dozens wells are to be drilled in Bears Ears National Monument to provide livestock more places to access water. → Read More
Vast reaches of Utah’s West Desert could be leased for geothermal power
The geothermal industry is looking to develop public lands in Utah's West Desert for renewable energy. → Read More
Salt Lake County bans new mines in Wasatch foothills and canyons
In a unanimous vote on Tuesday, the Salt Lake County Council amended the county’s zoning ordinances to ban new mining industries in the Wasatch foothills and canyons, while continuing to allow the existing operations along the base of the mountains. → Read More
Shrinking Lake Powell holds even less water than previously thought, study says
The U.S. Geological Survey determined sediments washing into Utah’s largest reservoir reduce its capacity by 33,270 acre-feet each year on average as the sediment settle on the lakebed. → Read More
For years, UP switching yard is among Utah’s worst point sources of pollution. The Legislature is now doing something about it
Impatient with Union Pacific's failure to upgrade its freight switchers operating in Utah, state lawmakers are pushing a bill requiring these locomotives to be powered with emission-free technology by 2028. → Read More
Why Utah mining officials have shut down the Coal Hollow Mine near Alton
State mining regulators this week shut down a southern Utah coal operation after it blew multiple deadlines to shore up its invalid reclamation bond. → Read More