Lawmakers disapprove of federal decision to endorse southern Utah highway alternative

ST. GEORGE — A federal decision on a proposed highway in Washington County "blatantly disregards" Utah voices and the law, Utah's congressional delegation says.

The Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Friday they are amending an incidental take permit for the Northern Corridor Highway and instead endorsing the Red Hills Parkway Expressway alternative. The agencies said in a statement the alternative "represents the lowest impact to the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area and is predicted to best resolve east-west traffic congestion in Washington County."

A statement from Sen. Mike Lee, Reps. John Curtis, Blake Moore, Burgess Owens, Celeste Maloy and Representative-elect Mike Kennedy says the agency's decision "blatantly disregards local voices and the law."

The Utah members of Congress said the county's permit for the Northern Corridor Highway was "negotiated in good faith" and has been part of the county's transportation management plan for several years.

"The directive in the 2009 Omnibus Public Land Management Act is clear: Find a Northern Corridor route that balances conservation and supports growth. The BLM's permitted alternative, a slight extension of the Red Hills Parkway, does nothing to address the short and long-term traffic relief goals of Washington County, and it fails to protect the prime desert tortoise habitat," the statement says.

"Unelected bureaucrats have repeatedly undermined long-standing efforts from state and local leaders and demonstrated an unwillingness to partner with local governments. We look forward to working with the incoming Trump administration to review this decision and its compliance with federal law," the legislators' statement concluded.

Friday's decision from the BLM and Fish and Wildlife Service was announced a month after the BLM released a final supplemental environmental analysis on the proposed Northern Corridor highway in Washington County. The highway, along with a habitat conservation plan and incidental take permit for the Mojave desert tortoise, was approved in January 2021.

The right-of-way grant, obtained by the Utah Department of Transportation, calls for the construction of a multilane, divided highway north of the city of St. George on BLM-managed and nonfederal lands within the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area and the overlapping Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.

The November supplemental analysis came on the coattails of a settlement agreement reached in August 2023 after a lawsuit from environmental groups was brought against the Interior Department over the January 2021 decision. The analysis offered six alternatives for establishing new roads located solely in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area.

In reviewing public comments and analyzing data, the BLM and Fish and Wildlife Service in November identified the Red Hills Parkway Express as the BLM's preferred alternative. This pathway would involve improvements to the existing Red Hills Parkway to convert portions of the roadway to a limited-access expressway directly connecting to I-15.

The Red Hills alternative will require further design, analysis and public input before a final decision is made, BLM's statement said Friday. The Bureau of Land Management said it analyzed alternatives for a northern transportation route in Washington County and found Red Hills Parkway to be the "most effective solution to alleviate traffic congestion" while still protecting the conservation area.

"In alignment with this decision, the Fish and Wildlife Service amended the Washington County incidental take permit for the Mojave desert tortoise, allowing the county to capture tortoises in the planned construction area for relocation by the state of Utah to other places in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve," the agency statement says.

Related topics