Author: UPEC Staff

It’s time to talk about UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) and climate change. Wait! What? Well, yes, UPEC (Utah Population and Environment Council) has a mission beyond nudging us toward lower populations.

Lately I have been consumed by loss, and by the notion of loss. Working as a physician for the last two years, my confidence in the durability of health, life, and even community, has eroded. Personally, I was lucky. None of my family or close friends died of our plague, but professionally I watched as countless people we cared for intensely progressed with illness, suffered, and ultimately died....

I’m relatively new to UPEC, but I was very glad to learn that a local group is working on the intersection of people and nature. As a recent graduate of the University of Utah currently employed in the outdoor recreation industry, I tend to think about these issues through the prism of the West’s stressed wildernesses. I spent 6 months of last year working as an outdoor educator in Central Ore...

Happy New Year from UPEC! First, a quick announcement, and then some more substantial thoughts. The latter are longer than usual, but we hope you will give them a decent read, and please always reach out to us with comments and questions. Also, please share this email with your friends! 

If you visit the Wasatch Front for snow-related activities, or, if you have simply lived in Salt Lake for more than a minute, then you have almost certainly experienced the intense traffic that often occurs in our area’s iconic mountain canyons.

A multimillion Inland Port is taking shape south of the Great Salt Lake. The original project of 16,000 acres has since ballooned to include a newly planned real estate development and a gargantuan Amazon warehouse. Guided by the Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA), and with a freshly approved budget of $40 million, Utah’s Inland Port is likely happening — whether we like it or not.