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Utah leaders gearing up to fight new BLM conservation rule

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Utah leaders gearing up to fight new BLM conservation rule


Kyle Dunphey

(Utah News Dispatch) From members of Utah’s congressional delegation to the state’s governor and attorney general, elected officials in the Beehive State are voicing their opposition to a new rule from the Bureau of Land Management, vowing to fight it in both Congress and the courts.

The BLM last week finalized its “Public Lands Rule,” which allows parcels of public land to be leased for conservation, similar to how the agency currently leases land for mineral extraction, energy development, recreation or grazing.

The rule would allow for a restoration lease, intended for groups or individuals to improve habitats and restore or conserve land — and a mitigation lease, aimed at offsetting existing development and projects on BLM land.

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It was widely celebrated by environmental groups, including the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which in a statement said the rule will “keep conservation front of mind.”

“For too long, the BLM has allowed extractive industries to have their way with our public lands. That’s led to degraded landscapes across the West and the decline of iconic species, like the greater sage-grouse. This rule gives the BLM the tools it needs to right these wrongs and start improving the health of our public lands,” said Kate Groetzinger, communications manager for the Center for Western Priorities.

But in Utah, Republicans argued the rule would lock up land, excluding traditional uses like grazing or commercial guiding. According to a statement from the Utah Department of Natural Resources, the rule will “negatively impact the 22.8 million acres of BLM land in Utah.”

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, in a statement last week, said he looked forward to working with Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes to fight the rule in federal court.

“The added layers of red tape and federal bureaucracy embedded in the BLM’s Public Lands Rule create new roadblocks to conservation work. The health of Utah’s lands and wildlife will suffer as a result. This Rule is contrary to the bedrock principle of ‘multiple-use’ in the BLM’s governing law, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act,” Cox said.

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That was the sentiment from Republican Reps. John Curtis, Celeste Maloy and Blake Moore on Monday during a Federal Lands Subcommittee field hearing — part of the House Committee on Natural Resources — in Sand Hollow State Park in Hurricane.

“The rule favors wealthy individuals and environmental groups by creating a new, convoluted leasing system that will allow them to lock up lands that belong to all Utahns,” said Curtis, who recently sponsored a bill that would permanently repeal the Public Lands Rule.

That bill, the Western Economy Security Today Act, passed out of the House Natural Resources Committee but has yet to receive a full vote from lawmakers.

Curtis argued that any new public lands leasing option should come from Congress, not the BLM, or what he called “the will of one person.”

His bill would promote “true conservation,” Curtis said, “rooted in local input rather than preservationist policies handed down by the Biden administration.”

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Moore, who said the rule “doesn’t really solve the problem,” asked Washington County Commissioner Adam Snow whether the policy helps or hinders grazing on public land. Snow called the rule an “absolute hindrance.”

“In this county alone, we have massive amounts of land set aside,” said Snow. “Conservation is important, nothing to take away from that. But, it’s balancing multiple uses, and to elevate the conservation rule to say that conservation is at the same level … that only hinders grazing.”

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance on Monday called the hearing “partisan” and “out of touch with local and national support for protecting public lands.”

“Keeping conservation front and center is particularly important in places like Washington County and across Southwest Utah that are seeing both significant growth and the impacts of climate change such as prolonged drought and diminishing water supplies,” said Travis Hammill, the group’s Washington D.C. director.





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Utah

Alabama lands portal commitment from Utah CB Cameron Calhoun

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Alabama lands portal commitment from Utah CB Cameron Calhoun


A day after keeping one of its current cornerbacks from the transfer portal, Alabama is now adding to its future secondary. The Crimson Tide received a commitment from Utah cornerback transfer Cameron Calhoun on Wednesday. The rising sophomore will have three years of eligibility remaining.

Calhoun started one game over 11 appearances during his debut season this fall. The 6-foot, 177-pound defender led Utah with nine pass breakups to go with an interception. He also tallied 21 tackles, including one for a loss.

Calhoun, a Cincinnati native, originally signed with Michigan as a four-star recruit in the 2023 class before transferring to Utah. He was a high school teammate with Alabama freshman signee Justin Hill.

Alabama lost cornerback Jahlil Hurley (Kansas) and safety DeVonta Smith to the transfer portal earlier this month. The Tide nearly saw cornerback Jaylen Mbakwe enter as well. However, the five-star freshman had a change of heart and elected to return to the team.

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Both of Alabama’s starting cornerbacks from this season, Domani Jackson and Zabien Brown, are eligible to return next year. Jackson, a rising senior will have a draft decision to make, while Brown is coming off a promising freshman campaign. The Tide also returns former Wake Forest transfer DaShawn Jones, a rising redshirt senior, who saw plenty of action both at cornerback and in the Husky role.

The addition of Calhoun ensures Alabama is covered in the event Jackson elects to depart for the draft. Regardless, the Utah transfer provides the Tide with more experienced depth in the secondary.



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5 Family Members Found Dead Inside Utah Home, 17-Year-Old Boy Hospitalized: ‘Absolutely Horrific’

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5 Family Members Found Dead Inside Utah Home, 17-Year-Old Boy Hospitalized: ‘Absolutely Horrific’


Police in Utah are investigating the deaths of five people from the same family who were found dead inside their home.

The West Valley City Police Department shared on X (formerly known as Twitter) that officers were investigating a homicide after they found “five people deceased” and one teenager injured inside a home on the 3700 block of Oxford Way — which is located about 9 miles from Salt Lake City.

The five people who were found deceased included two adults, a 42-year-old male, a 38-year-old female, an 11-year-old boy, a 9-year-old girl and a 2-year-old girl. Police noted that their “initial information” indicated that they were all related and lived together. 

Police investigate the deaths of five people inside a Utah home.
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Scott G. Winterton/The Deseret News via AP


Authorities said their investigation began when they were contacted by a family member on Monday, Dec. 16 who had voiced their “concerns” to police after “they had not heard from the woman who lives in the home” after visiting a few days prior. 

Officers then visited the property and attempted to “make contact” with the family. However, when they arrived and knocked at the door, “no one answered,” so officers looked inside the windows of the home and “spoke to neighbors.” 

“They did not find any indications of an emergency or crime so they asked the family member to keep in contact,” police said in their statement. 

When one of the deceased did not show up for work on Tuesday, Dec. 17, the concerned family member decided to enter the garage of the home to check if everyone was okay. While there, she found a 17-year-old family male member suffering from “an apparent gunshot wound” and called the police.

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Police investigate the home in West Valley City, Utah.

Scott G. Winterton/The Deseret News via AP


Officers responded to the scene just after 2 p.m., and the 17-year-old was transported to the hospital. West Valley City police spokesperson Roxeanne Vainuku described his injuries as “significant” in a press conference, per KTVX and NBC News.

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“He’s in a condition where we’ve not really been able to communicate with him,” Vainuku said, per NBC News. His exact condition was unknown, per the outlet.

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Police investigate the crime scene in Utah.

Scott G. Winterton/The Deseret News via AP


After searching the house, authorities found the five other bodies. However, police did not say how they may have died.

Vainuku described the scene as “absolutely horrific,” and added that it “is something that certainly will weigh heavily on investigators in this case.”

Police said in a statement that they “obtained a search warrant for the home” and investigators had started their investigation inside the home.

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“Officers also have canvassed the neighborhood gathering information and any video evidence,” they added.

“At this time, we believe this incident is isolated to this home,” police continued.



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Utah family of five found dead in home

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Utah family of five found dead in home


FIVE members of a Utah family including children aged 2, 9 and 11 were found dead of gunshot wounds in their home on Tuesday, while one 17-year-old boy was injured, police said.

There were no suspects at large, police said, indicating the shooter was someone within the family.

“We do not believe there’s a suspect on the loose. We believe at this point that this is an incident that’s isolated to this home,“ West Valley police spokesperson Roxeanne Vainuku told reporters.

The 17-year-old was in the hospital undergoing treatment and it was too soon to determine whether he was a suspect or a victim, Vainuku said.

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The five dead were a man, 42, a woman, 38, a boy, 11, and two girls ages 9 and 2, Vainuku said.

“This is far beyond anything routine,“ Vainuku said. “There were four (homicides) in the city for the entire year of 2024 so this more than doubles that number. … This is something that certainly will weigh heavily upon investigators.”

West Valley City is a suburb of Salt Lake City with a population of about 134,000.

Police had been called to the home on Monday by a concerned relative but nobody inside responded and officers looking through the windows found no sign of an emergency or crime, Vainuku said.

When the woman failed to show at work on Tuesday, relatives entered the home and found the 17-year-old wounded in the garage. Officers called to the scene entered the home and found the bodies, police said.

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In January 2023, a 42-year-old Utah man whose wife had filed for divorce just before Christmas shot dead seven members of his family including his five children ranging in ages from 4 to 17 and then turned the gun on himself, said officials in the town of Enoch City in southwestern Utah.



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