Lawsuit Targets Utah Highway Through Protected Conservation Lands, Threatened Tortoise Habitat biologicaldiversity.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from biologicaldiversity.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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.
Jason Jones
SALT LAKE CITY A proposed 4.5-mile, four-lane highway on Washington County’s wish list for more than two decades received the green light Thursday from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
The decision granting the right of way application came after the federal agencies worked with the applicant and Washington County to consider ways to offset the Mojave desert tortoise habitat losses from any approved development in southern Utah.
“The service is proud to continue long-term partnerships with Washington County, the state of Utah, the local community and the BLM to conserve the threatened desert tortoise while also balancing the long-term needs of growing communities,” said the service’s director Aurelia Skipwith. “This (plan) advances conservation through these crucial partnerships, and we thank all those involved for their collaboration and input.”
SALT LAKE CITY A proposed 4.5-mile, four-lane highway on Washington County s wish list for more than two decades received the green light Thursday from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
The decision granting the right of way application came after the federal agencies worked with the applicant and Washington County to consider ways to offset the Mojave desert tortoise habitat losses from any approved development in southern Utah. The service is proud to continue long-term partnerships with Washington County, the state of Utah, the local community and the BLM to conserve the threatened desert tortoise while also balancing the long-term needs of growing communities, said the service s director Aurelia Skipwith. This (plan) advances conservation through these crucial partnerships, and we thank all those involved for their collaboration and input.