Feds recommend alternative to long-proposed southern Utah highway, angering state leaders

A Mojave desert tortoise forages in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area near St. George, Utah. ()

A long-planned highway in southern Utah hit a pothole last week after the federal government released a new analysis recommending a different option that it says will lessen the impact on wildlife habitat.

For years, Washington County and the state have advocated for the Northern Corridor, a four-lane highway that would have cut through part of the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area to link the northeastern and northwestern corners of St. George.

Now, the Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, is instead recommending expanding the existing Red Hills Parkway Expressway, which runs along the south end of the conservation area, connecting Interstate 15 with state Route 18.

Environmental groups celebrated the decision — Utah politicians did not. In a statement, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said he was "​​exasperated" by the Biden administration's refusal to support local governments. And Washington County Attorney Eric Clarke called the BLM's decision "illegal," and signaled a possible legal challenge.

"The entire process has been designed to ignore the concerns of local residents and arrive at a predetermined result," Clarke said in a statement. "The BLM has destroyed local partnerships that have helped to protect endangered species for decades. If forced to litigate this issue, we expect to secure a right-of-way for the Northern Corridor."

One of the state's fastest growing areas, Washington County and state argued the Northern Corridor was a needed step to cut down on traffic.

Standing in its way is the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, established in 2009 to protect the endangered Mojave desert tortoise, only found in parts of Utah, California, Nevada and Arizona. In 2015, Washington County applied to renew its Habitat Conservation Plan for the region, with a proposed change — a new zone could be added to the conservation area to offset impacts from the Northern Corridor.

During the waning days of the Trump administration in 2021, the federal government approved a right-of-way application for the new highway and in exchange, Washington County would add the new, 3,340-acre zone to the conservation area. According to the Utah governor's office, the county has spent about $6 million on conservation efforts in the area since 2021.

Environmental groups later sued the federal government over the right-of-way, and in 2023 the Biden administration repealed the decision and announced it would launch a new review.

Its analysis considered six alternatives: three plans to build a new highway in the conservation area, two plans that would modify existing roads, and a plan that would simply terminate the right-of-way.

The BLM explored the impacts that each alternative would have on tortoise habitat, as well as the possible increase of noxious weeds and wildfires in the area.

In a 117-page Environmental Impact Statement released Nov. 7, the BLM and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommended the state expand the existing Red Hills Parkway Expressway, which "addresses the east-west transportation needs of the greater St. George area, while protecting the resource values of the National Conservation Area."

The decision is not set in stone, and the BLM will release its final record of decision later this year.

Local and national conservation and environmental groups celebrated the decision. In a statement, Holly Snow Canada with the group Conserve Southwest Utah called it "a critical step toward ensuring lasting protections" for the area.

"The initial push to route a highway through this national conservation area was rushed, relying on an Environmental Impact Statement that overlooked critical, scientific information," she said. "Now, with a more comprehensive review, it is even more clear that this cherished landscape should be left intact for our community's quality of life. We urge elected officials to seize this opportunity to adopt smarter traffic solutions that better support the long-term health of our local economy and safeguard our irreplaceable public lands, creating a legacy of responsible growth for future generations."

Let us know what you think... A flurry of other local and state politicians and leaders took a much different tone, with Cox calling the decision another example of the Biden administration ignoring the will of rural Utah.

"The BLM's plan doesn't improve traffic congestion, hurts world-class recreation opportunities and fails to actually help the desert tortoise. It's unwise and unworkable, and I look forward to working with the Trump Administration to reverse the decision and get the road built," Cox said.

The new, 3,340-acre zone that would have been used to offset the highway will now be removed from the conservation area, which according to Utah Department of Natural Resources executive director Joel Ferry "threatens recreation opportunities while also removing protections for the desert tortoise."

"The Zone 6 designation would have provided protections for up to 772 Mojave desert tortoises and an additional 3,341 acres of tortoise habitat on non-federal lands," he said. "The desert tortoise, as well as other native wildlife species and endemic plants, will be impacted by habitat loss and fragmentation if protections are revoked and development on non-federal lands occurs."

Utah's Republican Sens. Mitt Romeny and Mike Lee, and Rep. Celeste Maloy, echoed the concerns from Cox and Ferry.

Lee called the decision a "setback for our communities and regional growth," while Romney said it "fails to relieve traffic congestion or provide protections for the desert tortoise."

Maloy, a former deputy Washington County attorney who has long advocated for the Northern Corridor, said the federal government "needs to be a better partner."

"Washington County negotiated with the federal government and all stakeholders to create land designations to protect desert tortoises, among other things, and also a route for the Northern Corridor," Maloy said. "The designations have been in place for a couple of decades, but the agencies are not working fairly to get the Northern Corridor permitted. The county is not getting the benefits of the bargain they made in good faith."