(Francisco Kjolseth | Tribune file photo) In this Dec. 4, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump is surrounded by Utah leaders at the Utah Capitol, as well as then-San Juan County Commissioner Rebecca Benally (far left), as he signs the presidential proclamation to shrink Bears Ears national monument. San Juan County hired a law firm that paid several lobbyists to pressure then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke (center, top) and others in the Trump administration to make the cuts. Newly obtained emails show San Juan County's lobbying effort on Bears Ears.
Zak is the southeast Utah reporter for The Tribune. He has been writing from Bluff, Utah, since 2015 and is the author of Confluence: Navigating the Personal & Political On Rivers of the New West. His second book, which will cover the decline of Lake Powell, is forthcoming from Torrey House Press in 2024.