(Photo courtesy of EcoFlight.) The Bureau of Land Management has authorized oil-shale developers to cut a 14-mile corridor across public land to service a 9,000-acre strip mine and processing plant. The proposed network of utility lines would cross the White River, pictured here, about 40 miles southeast of Vernal. Enefit American Oil needs the corridor to run water, natural gas and electrical lines to its South Project and to ship 50,000 barrels of oil a day out of the Uinta Basin.
Brian Maffly has worked for The Tribune off and on since 1994. Maffly roams Utah, covering public land and environment.