Visual Storytelling, Grassroots Power, and Utah Public Lands. How Photos, Plus Codes, and Local Power Are Saving Utah’s Public Lands.

Executive Summary:

In this episode of Around the Counter with Molly & Friends, host Molly Jones sits down with Alma Baste, visual storyteller and public lands policy associate at Stewardship Utah. Together, they explore how photography and creative narrative bridge the gap between urban Utahn perspectives and rural communities. Alma shares on-the-ground experiences from her grassroots organizing on the Navajo Nation—from implementing open-source "plus codes" to solve rural voter registration challenges to supporting local Indigenous leaders like Daylene Redhorse in building long-term community power.The discussion moves beyond false political choices to examine the real-world mechanics of public lands policy, including rural economic diversification, federal PILT (Payments in Lieu of Taxes) tax funding, and the balance between outdoor recreation and conservation. Alma breaks down the vital role of Indigenous co-management, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), and the key distinctions between tribal coalitions and government advisory commissions in preserving sacred landscapes like Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante.

Key Takeaways:

Visual Storytelling as a Policy Tool: Capturing everyday rural moments and vast natural landscapes connects urban audiences to rural issues through shared human experiences and visual empathy.Plus Codes Grant Electoral Representation: Utilizing plus codes in remote areas of the Navajo Nation provided precise geographic coordinates, correcting precinct mislabeling and empowering voters to elect the first Navajo-majority county commission.PILT Taxes Offset Rural Infrastructure Costs: Federal Payments in Lieu of Taxes ($53.4M awarded to Utah in 2026) replace local property tax revenue on public lands, helping rural counties fund critical services like search-and-rescue and road maintenance.Indigenous Co-Management and TEK: Integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge alongside federal land management prioritizes long-term environmental stewardship, cultural access, and sustainable resource use over simple extraction or consumerism.Shared Ground in Outdoor Recreation: Hunters, anglers, climbers, and backpackers share a core desire for preserved open spaces, opening up opportunities for collaboration when policy discussions move past outrage rhetoric.

*Executive Summary and key takeaways generated by AI and edited by humans. Podcast is purely human.

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Executive Summary:

In this week's episode of Around the Counter with Molly & Friends, host Molly Jones engages with Perry Hall, Utah Chapter Chair of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, to discuss the intersection of policy, wildlife health, and outdoor recreation. The discussion demystifies complex wildlife management topics—ranging from mule deer population declines to controversial legislation like HB 469 regarding mountain lion harvest—by centering scientific integrity over political maneuverings.Hall breaks down how early 20th-century conservation policies established the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, ensuring wildlife remains a public trust rather than private property. The conversation dives into critical funding mechanisms like the Pittman-Robertson and Dingle-Johnson Acts, demonstrating how hunters and anglers generate billions in excise taxes that directly maintain trails, public land infrastructure, and non-game species research across Utah.Finally, Jones and Hall unpack pressing policy battles threatening Utah's outdoor landscape, including the transfer of federal lands to state control, reductions to national monuments, and potential rollbacks of the Federal Roadless Rule. They explore how everyday Utahns—whether hikers, mountain bikers, anglers, or hunters—can actively participate in protecting wild spaces through simple steps like purchasing duck stamps or submitting public comments on federal land management.

Key Takeaways:

Public Lands Focus: Unlike species-specific groups, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers prioritizes public land access, unfragmented habitat, and quiet backcountry recreation for all outdoor users.Conservation Funding Engines: Federal excise taxes on hunting and fishing gear via the Pittman-Robertson and Dingle-Johnson Acts have funneled over $14 billion into public land maintenance, non-game wildlife research, and trailhead facilities.Ethical Fair Chase: Responsible hunting emphasizes sustainable food sourcing, habitat stewardship, and fair-chase principles that ensure wildlife has a fair opportunity to evade harvest.Public Trust Doctrine: The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation legally defines wildlife as a public resource held in trust for all citizens rather than private property.Threats of Land Transfer: Transferring federal public lands to state control creates heavy financial liabilities on state budgets, drastically increasing the risk that public spaces will be privatized or sold off.

*Executive Summary and key takeaways generated by AI and edited by humans. Podcast is purely human.

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Executive Summary:

Utah is the youngest state in the nation, with Gen Z making up nearly 25% of eligible voters. Yet, young residents historically turn out at lower rates than older demographics. In this episode of Around the Counter with Molly & Friends, Molly Jones sits down with Jenessa Jimoh, Executive Director of Ignite! Utah and founder of D.I.V.A (Diversity, Inclusion, Values, Action).Drawing from a statewide survey of over 500 Gen Z Utahns, Jimoh breaks down the reality of youth voter priorities. Far from the media stereotypes, young voters across party lines share core concerns about basic material needs, housing costs, economic mobility, and healthcare. Learn how direct door-to-door engagement, clear civics education, and deep community building can bridge the gap between young Utahns and local governance.

Key Takeaways:

* Civic Leadership: Black women and diverse grassroots organizers are actively building crucial mentorship networks, job resources, and non-partisan engagement channels across Utah.

* Kitchen Table Issues: 78% of surveyed Gen Z Utahns identify housing affordability, job opportunities, and healthcare—specifically mental health access—as their top priorities, regardless of political affiliation.

* Localized Climate Priorities: Unlike national Gen Z profiles, Utah youth rate environmental quality and climate change significantly higher due to tangible local impacts like inversion, air quality, and the shrinking Great Salt Lake.

* The Outreach Gap: Traditional political campaigns routinely overlook young voters in favor of high-propensity older voters. Personal door-knocking and basic civic education show high conversion rates for youth turnout.

*Executive Summary and key takeaways generated by AI and edited by humans. Podcast is purely human.

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Executive Summary

How do you flip a working-class swing district to the Democrats in a heavily Republican election year, and what happens when out-of-state PAC funds and redrawn district maps alter the playing field? In this episode of Around the Counter with Molly & Friends, host Molly Jones sits down with Clare Collard—former Utah State Representative and current Democratic National Committee Utah Committeewoman—to pull back the curtain on campaign mechanics and statehouse power dynamics. Collard breaks down her “secret sauce” for connecting with voters on human terms, explaining how decades of nonpartisan community service built the trust needed to win over skeptical neighbors.

The conversation moves beyond campaign strategy to translate complex legislative policy into real-world impacts for working families. Collard details her work passing landmark protections against surprise emergency medical bills—which paved the road for federal legislation—and securing $50 million in state funding for affordable housing. From navigating Utah’s legislative supermajority to addressing cost-of-living pressures, small business struggles, and immigrant optimism, this episode provides an insider look at how policy gets made and how everyday citizens can take meaningful action in their communities.

Key Takeaways

* Community Roots Outweigh Partisan Labels: Winning swing districts depends on deep, long-term local engagement—such as PTA involvement, planning commission service, and community volunteering—which builds neighbor-to-neighbor trust that transcends political affiliations.

* Dark Money and Redistricting Impact Local Races: Strategic district redrawing and sudden infusions of non-disclosed PAC funds can dramatically tilt closely contested state legislative seats, even with strong grassroots efforts.

* Bipartisan Collaboration Drives Real Policy Wins: Lawmakers operating within a legislative superminority can still pass high-impact bills—like eliminating surprise ER medical charges and expanding affordable housing funds—by finding common ground on practical issues with colleagues across the aisle.

* Kitchen-Table Economics Unify Voters: National political rhetoric often misses the mark locally; effective outreach should focus on everyday financial pressures like housing costs, childcare, minimum wage stagnation, and gas prices.

* Civic Engagement Requires Direct Local Action: Countering political exhaustion starts with accessible participation: checking your voter registration, volunteering for campaigns, serving as poll observers, and having open conversations with neighbors.

*Executive Summary and key takeaways generated by AI and edited by humans. Podcast is purely human.

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Executive Summary

In this episode of Around the Counter, Molly sits down with Representative John Arthur. He’s a 6th-grade teacher, 2021 Utah Teacher of the Year, and House District 41 Representative. Together, they strip away legislative jargon and peek under the hood of Utah’s public education funding. Arthur breaks down the heavy toll of unfunded legislative mandates on local schools and teachers, the reality of taking a pay cut to serve in the state legislature, and how supermajority dynamics impact working-class representation. Moving past hyper-partisan outrage, he explains the mechanics behind state tax funds and highlights why structural legislative fixes are vital for keeping local communities supported and informed.

Beyond Capitol Hill, the conversation tackles hot-button local issues ranging from the Little Cottonwood gondola proposal to the controversies surrounding the Utah Fits All voucher program. Arthur shares how he builds bipartisan relationships, leverages authentic digital storytelling, and connects with center-right constituents on the doorstep, including a sweat-soaked door-knocking story that proves radical civility is still alive. Tune in for a grounded, insightful breakdown of how state decisions directly impact Utah classrooms and neighborhoods, delivered with curiosity and schoolhouse joy.

Key Takeaways

* Unfunded Mandates Strain Schools: Legislation requiring district actions without dedicated funding or additional personnel creates unstaffed burdens that accelerate educator burnout.

* Low Legislative Compensation Limits Representation: Serving in the state legislature pays less than a public school teaching salary, creating financial barriers that discourage everyday working-class Utahns from seeking office.

* Teacher Raises Tied to Vouchers: Utah’s teacher pay increase was legislatively handcuffed to the controversial Utah Fits All voucher program; if vouchers are ruled unconstitutional, teachers risk losing their raise unless the two are decoupled.

* Immediate Canyon Traffic Solutions Exist: The proposed Little Cottonwood gondola will not be operational in time for the 2034 Olympics, making expanded 15-minute busing, reservation parking, and tolling more immediate and cost-effective solutions.

* Bipartisanship Requires Respectful Dialogue: Effective policy outreach relies on focusing on real-world outcomes, avoiding personal attacks, and maintaining an openness to changing one’s mind based on new information.

*Executive Summary and key takeaways generated by AI and edited by humans. Podcast is purely human.

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Executive Summary

Local government often feels like an impenetrable black box, but civic advocate Turner C. Bitton demystifies how local advisory boards, transit projects, and housing policies directly shape daily life across Salt Lake County. From the mechanics of civilian oversight in policing to a historic $1 billion federal grant earmarked for double-tracking the FrontRunner commuter rail, this conversation pulls back the curtain on how city infrastructure gets built and funded. Turner illustrates why connected transportation networks and frequent service are essential for Utah’s rapidly growing regional footprint.

The discussion shifts to Utah’s housing crisis, exploring why “missing middle” housing such as duplexes, townhomes, and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) is vital for long-term economic prosperity. By reframing neighborhood character around vibrant, multi-generational communities rather than rigid architectural limits, Turner explains how policy initiatives can create accessible homeownership.

Key Takeaways

* Civic Boards Power Local Governance: Advisory entities like the Transportation Board, Housing Authority, and Police Civilian Review Board translate community input into actionable policy and oversight that can make real change in your community.

* FrontRunner Upgrades Transform Commutes: A $1 billion federal grant to double-track FrontRunner rail will cut wait times to 15–30 minutes, increase service reliability, and pave the way for future electrification.

* Missing Middle Housing Drives Affordability: Re-legalizing duplexes, fourplexes, and townhomes creates accessible homeownership options between high-cost single-family homes and large apartment complexes.

* Regional Planning Demands Connected Transit: With 20% of regional residents commuting across county lines daily, housing policies must align with transportation infrastructure to maintain regional livability.

* Neighborhood Character Belongs to People: Community vitality stems from diverse, multi-generational residents and walkable streets rather than exclusionary zoning practices. It’s a hot take, but we’re here for it!

*Executive Summary and key takeaways generated by AI and edited by humans. Podcast is purely human.

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Executive Summary

In this episode of Around the Counter, Molly Jones sits down with En Canada of the Wasatch Assembly to demystify how global human rights conversations translate into concrete, local political action at home. En shares how their Palestinian, Black, and Irish heritage informs their organizing, offering a perspective on why U.S. funding in foreign conflicts creates a direct moral responsibility for everyday citizens. The conversation breaks down the origin story of the Wasatch Assembly, tracing how high-stakes public comment at Salt Lake City Council meetings evolved into a structured, grassroots effort aimed at improving material conditions for working Utahns.

En unpacks the Wasatch Assembly’s 2026 priorities including ending homelessness sweeps, passing expanding housing plans, and utilizing property taxes for long-term affordable housing while candidly discussing the tension between grassroots advocates and local elected officials. This episode delivers a clear, jargon-free breakdown of how everyday neighbors can engage with city hall to shape housing, immigration, and community policy.

Key Takeaways

* Global Roots to Local Action: En Canada highlights how their Palestinian lineage and ancestral history shape their activism, emphasizing that federal military funding creates an obligation for local voters to demand accountability at home.

* The Wasatch Assembly Model: Designed to turn temporary activism into sustainable political strategy, Wasatch Assembly uses a year-round, three-phase cycle powered by ranked-choice voting to establish community-driven policy agendas across Salt Lake County.

* 2026 Housing & Homelessness Agenda: The Assembly’s top voter-backed municipal priorities focus on ending homelessness sweeps, expanding city housing options, and enacting property tax measures to fund permanent affordable housing over short-term shelter systems.

* Council Dynamics & Civic Levers: The episode explores the friction between city council members and grassroots organizers, examining how public comment limits impacted community engagement and how weighted survey scorecards are now used to hold local politicians accountable.

*Executive Summary and key takeaways generated by AI and edited by humans. Podcast is purely human.

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In this episode of Around the Counter with Molly & Friends, host Molly Jones sits down with Tyler Bettilyon, the Director of AI at Cinnamon Health, tech writer, and debate coach to peel back the curtain on artificial intelligence, large-scale data center infrastructure, and local political accountability.

Jumping off from a viral interview between Tucker Carlson and Kevin O’Leary regarding the massive Stratos data center project in Box Elder County, the conversation dissects why giving public subsidies and tax breaks to private tech developments rarely yields the jobs, equity, or community prosperity touted by promoters.

Bettilyon demystifies the technical jargon separating data centers, supercomputers, and machine learning models, contrasting extractive private projects with public-good initiatives like the University of Utah’s Redtail supercomputer and state-level AI Moonshots.

Shifting to policy, regulation, and industry ethics, the discussion addresses the growing public backlash against Silicon Valley’s Gilded Age tech figures and their promises of a white-collar bloodbath.

Bettilyon lays out a pragmatic roadmap for AI governance at both state and federal levels, highlighting the necessity of human-in-the-loop healthcare guardrails, transparent municipal land-use contracts, and clear digital privacy and copyright protections. Grounded in media literacy and healthy skepticism, the episode cuts through the corporate hype, recognizes the real-world physical and human constraints of machine learning, and demands policy that puts community well-being over billionaire extraction.

Key Takeaways

* Data Center Tax Subsidies Offer Low Returns for Local Communities: Massive infrastructure projects like the Stratos data center require immense land, power, and water resources while generating under a hundred permanent local jobs, offering no equity or discounted compute access to taxpayers.

* Public Infrastructure vs. Private Compute: Unlike private data centers that rent computational power to the highest bidder, public resources like the University of Utah’s Redtail supercomputer focus energy-efficient computing on state priorities, higher education, and public-good research like cancer treatments and drug discovery.

* Machine Learning Requires Practical Policy and Human Guardrails: Sensible regulation should enforce consumer protection standards such as Texas’s human-in-the-loop requirement for AI clinical decisions or Utah’s regulations on mental health chatbots ensuring AI systems cannot bypass existing legal standards.

* Federal Copyright and Privacy Laws are Urgently Needed: Current AI progress relies heavily on underpaid global labor; clear federal standards are necessary to establish copyright protections for creators and privacy rights for digital citizens.

* AI Systems Fail in Non-Human Ways: AI models are complex pattern-matching math functions that struggle with context and generalization, making them useful for narrow tasks but prone to fundamental errors that require healthy skepticism and human oversight.

*Executive Summary and key takeaways generated by AI and edited by humans. Podcast is purely human.

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In this episode of Around the Counter, Molly Jones sits down with professional ski mountaineer, climate advocate, and former U.S. Senate candidate Caroline Gleich for a wide-ranging conversation about endurance, environmental stewardship, and government accountability. Gleich opens up about the shares about supporting her husband’s historic “Double Seven” completion to her own ambitious endurance pursuits and reflects on how honoring personal values and equity builds resilience both at home and in public life. The conversation transitions into an approachable breakdown of complex Utah policy issues, peeling back the layers on hyperscale data centers, energy demands, and what massive development projects mean for local water supplies and public health.

Gleich also tackles recent headlines surrounding public land protections, addressing the reduction of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments and setting the record straight against online attacks. Grounded in a shared commitment to Utah’s communities and natural legacy, Gleich and Jones outline ways listeners can get involved in public lands issues. Listeners will gain a candid, balanced look at how campaign finance reform, local transit solutions, and grassroots civic engagement shape daily life in Utah, offering an inspiring blueprint for how everyday citizens can stand up for their land and communities without losing their sense of joy.

Key Takeaways

* Partnership and Endurance in Advocacy: Life-altering endurance goals like skiing all 90 lines in the Wasatch, running for U.S. Senate, and supporting a spouse through world-record swims require deep mutual support, clear boundaries, and emotional maturity.

* The Reality of Hyperscale Data Centers: Proposed projects like Stratos in Box Elder County require massive amounts of energy and water, raising critical questions about local resource management, air quality, and public accountability for big tech.

* Protecting Public Lands & Indigenous Sovereignty: National monuments like Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante drive Utah’s outdoor economy and honor tribal co-management; rollbacks threaten both environmental health and cultural history in favor of extractive industries.

* Practical Solutions over Big-Tech Quick Fixes: Real transit and environmental progress in places like Little Cottonwood Canyon comes from funding community infrastructure such as zero-fare electric buses, parking hubs, and trailhead facilities rather than expensive, developer-focused projects like gondolas.

* Fixing the Root of Political Frustration: Campaign finance reform, overturning Citizens United, and implementing publicly funded elections are essential steps to make government work for working families rather than wealthy donors.

*Executive Summary and key takeaways generated by AI and edited by humans. Podcast is purely human.

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This week, Tenille Taggart joins Molly Around the Counter to break down what happens when clinical training meets grassroots political organizing. From her early departure from a conservative LDS upbringing to conducting mental health interventions in the court system, Tenille shares how her background drives her mission to address structural flaws in Utah politics rather than just treating their symptoms. The conversation details the real-world friction between the Grasstops of campaign consultants and party gatekeepers, to the Grassroots advocates working on the ground.

Rather than relying on cynicism or outrage, this discussion offers a candid, insider look at what it actually takes to run for local office, build authentic coalitions, and stay engaged year-round. Together, Molly & Tenille demystify the mechanics of power building from door-knocking analytics to the emotional toll of running a campaign while emphasizing why local policy matters far more to daily life than national headlines. It’s an essential listen for anyone curious about how real community change gets made beyond the viral echo chambers.

Key Takeaways

* Systemic Fixes Over Band-Aids: Tenille’s background in forensic mental health and clinical psychology highlights why political advocacy must go “upstream” to fix broken systems rather than continually rescuing individuals harmed by them.

* Door-Knocking Beats Digital Hype: Despite social media algorithms and viral online followings, direct, face-to-face interaction and traditional door-knocking remain the single most effective way to connect with voters and win local elections.

* Local Policy Hits Home First: Decisions made by local bodies such as county council budget decisions have a far greater impact on everyday life than national political commentary.

* The Structural Barrier for Grassroots Candidates: Traditional political consulting firms and party gatekeepers often favor moneyed interests and rigid templates, creating high barriers to entry for non-traditional, working-class, or marginalized candidates.

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