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.