Environmental groups oppose tree removal projects

SALT LAKE CITY — Environmental groups are opposing efforts to remove pinyon-juniper in Utah's Hamblin Valley, arguing their mechanical destruction would vaporize trees that are centuries-old.
The Bureau of Land Management projects involving 192,000 acres in the Great Basin are designed to boost rangeland health of imperiled greater sage grouse, wildlife and wild horses and burros.
But the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, joined by Wild Utah Project, said the federal agency failed to take