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.
| Updated: 10:35 p.m.
With the end of the Trump administration less than a week away, federal agencies issued a string of decisions Thursday that will result in a paved highway through Utah’s Red Cliffs National Conservation Area.
The controversial project could fragment habitat set aside for Mojave desert tortoise and open space valued for outdoor recreation on the edge of St. George.
Local and state leaders have long embraced the so-called Northern Corridor as the key to solving traffic woes in one of the nation’s fastest-growing areas by allowing vehicles to cross Washington County without having to travel St. George’s congested streets. But critics see a costly and sprawl-generating boondoggle.