Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and President Joe Biden must not allow the Northern Corridor Highway (NCH) to cut across Red Cliffs National Conservation Area (NCA) in southwestern Utah.
Let’s make one thing clear: the NCH is not “essential,” as Washington County officials have declared. The county’s population is growing, and traffic congestion is indeed a problem, but there are much better ways to alleviate it than building a four-lane highway through a beloved and federally protected NCA.
Red Cliffs Desert Reserve was established in 1996 to protect the threatened Mojave Desert Tortoise, as well as for the area’s Native American cultural heritage, beautiful red rock scenery, and recreation opportunities. The Reserve (75% of which was enhanced by Congress in 2009 to become an NCA) is a major quality of life perk for St. George and other gateway communities, plus a prime tourism draw. Washington County administers the Reserve in coordination with federal and state agencie
Several iconic local species stand to benefit from a letter sent to Congress on Tuesday asking that the federal budget for endangered species protections be more than doubled for Fiscal Year 2022, from last year s $291.7 million to $592.1 million. 170 different environmental groups signed on to the request, which was led by the Center for Biological Diversity. They say that $592.1 million is the sum needed to make up for lost ground and address the threat of climate change to biodiversity. The Endangered Species Act is one of the best tools we have to stem the current wildlife extinction crisis, yet it has been chronically underfunded for decades, the letter begins. While Congress provided a modest increase for the [U.S. Fish and Wildlife] Service in Fiscal Year 2021, it fell woefully short of what is required to meet the needs of our most imperiled animals and plants.
Letter: Biden must fundamentally reform BLMâs dominant management culture
Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune
Wild horses roam around with cattle on BLM land northwest of Cedar City, Wednesday, April 23, 2014
By Richard Spotts | The Public Forum
  | Feb. 7, 2021, 1:00 p.m.
President Biden signed an executive order with the commendable goal of protecting 30 percent of our nationâs lands and waters by 2030. If achieved, this would be a significant response to the mounting climate and extinction crises.
The largest chunks of federal lands are managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), particularly here in the West. BLM could therefore play a key role in whether this protection goal is met. Unfortunately, BLM cannot currently fulfill this role because it has repeatedly demonstrated that it cannot protect its lands that already have protective legal designations.
A new highway project outside of St. George will involve a land swap to protect popular biking and climbing areas, but may impact the habitat for the desert tortoise population, an endangered species.
On Jan. 14, Washington County officials announced that the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had issued a right of way to build the proposed Northern Corridor Highway through the southern tip of the existing Red Cliffs Reserve National Conservation Area. The controversial deal includes a separate 6,813 acres of land southwest of St. George to be added to the reserve. Within this separate island of land lies some of the most popular climbing and mountain biking in southwest Utah.
For Immediate Release, January 14, 2021
Contact:
Sarah Thomas, Conserve Southwest Utah, (435) 590-8172, sarah@conserveswu.org
Randi Spivak, Center for Biological Diversity, (310) 779-4894, rspivak@biologicaldiversity.org
Trump Administration Flouts Law to Push Utah Highway Through Protected Conservation Lands
ST. GEORGE,
Utah The Trump administration issued a decision today to allow construction of the Northern Corridor Highway, a controversial four-lane highway through the protected Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in southwest Utah.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also issued a “take” permit today allowing destruction of Mojave desert tortoises in the path of the highway project and reducing protections elsewhere. Desert tortoises are protected as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.