A politician came up with the Great Salt Lake tree-thinning idea — not scientists
A Salt Lake County Council member says she is a biologist, but scientific experts don’t back her plan.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Dea Theodore, who represents Salt Lake County Council District 6, poses for a portrait on Thursday, July 23, 2020.
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.
Blake joined The Tribune in March 2022 to cover city and county government before becoming an editor in 2024. He is a University of Minnesota graduate who started his journalism career in Las Vegas, where he covered local government, state politics and the depletion of the Colorado River. He is dad to a Golden Retriever named Woodward.