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Tribune Editorial: Don’t let federal government shirk its duty to protecting public lands

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Tribune Editorial: Don’t let federal government shirk its duty to protecting public lands


Is administration looking to do a bad job so it won’t be asked to do it again?

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Indian Creek area of Bears Ears National Monument near Monticello on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024.

If you do a job badly, chances are you won’t be asked to do it again.

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That is the most likely motivation for the Trump administration’s moves to make large cuts in the already overworked public lands agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service.

If you destroy the federal government’s ability to wisely manage and protect the public lands that belong to all Americans, it pretends to boost the case that the feds should have less land to manage and protect. That they should give it to the states or sell it to private developers.

The cuts echo the anti-public lands mantra of many of Utah’s Republican elected officials. The politicians who claim, without a shred of evidence, that the state could do a better job of caring for the 42% of the state that is owned by the BLM. Who are more likely to sell the land off to the highest bidders than to commit the state to the cost of true stewardship.

Arguments, from U.S. Sen. Mike Lee and others, that some federal land should be used to ease the state’s severe housing shortage are weak. They would only make sense if any such transfer came with strict rules limiting use of former federal land to truly affordable housing, in places where utilities, roads and other infrastructure are already in place, and not to be turned into more multi-million-dollar ranchettes.

This is not to argue that every federal employee is essential and every federal office sacrosanct. As in any large organization, there are jobs that aren’t being done well or don’t need doing at all.

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But a careful review of each function and incumbent is necessary before the ax comes out. And, as Grand County officials have pointed out, local economies across the state are threatened by the loss of the jobs, and the incomes, of federal employees.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) From left, Utah Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, former co-chair of the Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk, author and advocate Terry Tempest Williams and Autumn Gillard of the Piute Indian Tribe of Utah, join a rally to protect public lands at the Utah Capitol on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025.

The work that won’t get done — everything from cleaning toilets and maintaining roads to drafting environmental impact statements and permitting useful new energy projects — will be missed.

As we would also miss the fees and royalties, $9.6 billion a year collected by the BLM, compared to the $1.7 billion the agency spends.

The answer is not to abandon the federal government’s responsibility to manage our public lands, but to demand that it be done better.

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Editorials represent the opinions of The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board, which operates independently from the newsroom.



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Utah

Here’s who will lead Utah Valley University as its next president

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Here’s who will lead Utah Valley University as its next president


Jon Anderson will be charged with moving the Orem school forward following the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on campus last year.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Incoming UVU President Jon Anderson poses for a photo with his family after an event announcing his selection at Utah Valley University in Orem on Friday, July 17, 2026.



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Beaver County residents set up thousands of sandbags ahead of flashfloods

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Beaver County residents set up thousands of sandbags ahead of flashfloods


BEAVER COUNTY, Utah — A massive community effort is underway as volunteers and Beaver County crews distribute thousands of sandbags to protect homes from the potential path of floodwaters.

After the Cottonwood Fires, residents have been waiting for weeks for relief to come in the form of rain, though officials now warn it may come all at once with an increased risk of flooding and debris flow.

Emergency Service Director Les Whitney believes that the fire has left plenty of debris to bring trouble for residents.

“We got a lot of water. We’re bringing debris with it, so tree branches, tree limbs, logs, lots of different size firewood, and that’s all in the creeks. We’re worried about that plugging up our bridges and stuff, so we have heavy equipment and excavators located in strategic places so that we can keep those bridges open,” said Whitney.

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An estimated 140 homes and condominiums were spared from the flames, but remain in the paths of floodwaters.

Residents can also pick up sandbags at the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office or at the Beaver County Rodeo Fairgrounds.





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Utah man arrested again for allegedly abusing dog twice in three months

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Utah man arrested again for allegedly abusing dog twice in three months


EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain man currently on pretrial release in 4th District Court who is accused of abusing his dog has been arrested again for allegedly punching the same animal.

Keith Reaves Davis, 43, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of aggravated cruelty to an animal.

Utah County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday afternoon to a grocery store on a report that a man was beating his dog after it had gotten off its leash and was stopped by a bystander, according to a police booking affidavit.

“I reviewed security camera footage from the grocery store, and an individual matching the description of the suspect was seen holding the dog in the air by one paw and repeatedly striking the dog on the right hind leg area. I observed the male strike the dog several times before dropping the dog from approximately 1-2 feet. The strikes appeared to be as hard as the male could hit,” the arresting deputy wrote in the affidavit. “The dog did not cry out or whimper as if the dog was accustomed to the abuse.”

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When questioned, Davis “admitted to striking the dog because it was not behaving,” the affidavit states.

An animal control officer who responded to the scene to take custody of the dog noted it was the same dog he had taken from Davis exactly three months earlier during another animal abuse investigation.

In that case, Davis was charged in 4th District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor, after deputies received a tip from a neighbor that a dog was being abused at Davis’ home, according to charging documents. When questioned, Davis “acknowledged hitting his dog as punishment,” the charges state.

Deputies also reviewed videos that the neighbor had filmed. The neighbor told investigators “there was blood from the dog on the ground of the garage and (the neighbor) can hear the dog screaming as if it’s being hurt. Deputies got the videos from the (neighbor) and you can hear very loudly the dog screaming and crying with a lot of loud banging noises. In one of the videos, you can hear the dog sounding like it is being choked by a collar and is grasping for air,” a police booking affidavit states.

Davis’ next court hearing in the April case is scheduled for July 28.

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In their latest booking report, sheriff’s deputies note that they “believe further harm will be inflicted on this dog if it is released back to the male a second time,” and have recommended the dog not be returned to Davis.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.



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