facebook-pixel

David Jenkins: Bargain basement oil and gas leasing exacts huge toll across the West

(Brian Maffly | Tribune file photo) Members of the Uintah High School mountain bike team practice on the McCoy Flats trails southwest of Vernal on Oct. 7. Like other trails under development in Uintah County, the McCoy Flats loops cross state trust lands, which are embedded among public lands in checkerboarded sections. Trust lands officials are concerned Utah's expansion of trail-oriented recreation could inhibit mineral development on these lands, which are to be managed to raise money for public education.