(Rick Egan | Tribune file photo) This Aug. 6, 2017, file photo shows the Book Cliffs area south of Vernal. The area has been the battleground for environmentalists and pro-development advocates who want to develop tar sands mines in the area. Uintah County commissioners are battling with the elected clerk/auditor over who has control of accounting services in the county budget, largely fueled by oil and gas-related revenues.
Leia Larsen is a sixth generation Utahn and a water and land use reporter reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune. She has covered environment, energy and political issues throughout the West. When she’s not chasing the news, Leia can be found exploring the Wasatch Mountains, sleeping in the desert or rooting around her garden.