St. George • Federal officials released the final environmental study of the controversial Northern Corridor Highway on Thursday and signaled their intent to revoke approval of the four-lane road that would cut through a national conservation area.
According to the study’s findings, the highway proposed to bisect the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area north of St. George would stoke more wildfires, spread noxious weeds and destroy critical habitat for Mojave desert tortoises and other endangered species.
As a result, the federal Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have announced their intent to revoke the right-of-way for the road that was granted during the first Trump administration. Moreover, the federal agencies are identifying the Red Hills Parkway Expressway, which poses less environmental risk, as their preferred alternative. That previously abandoned option would convert Red Hills Parkway in St. George into an expressway between Interstate 15 and Bluff Street that would facilitate better east-west traffic flows in the area.
Collateral damage
Possible collateral damage in the decision to nix the Northern Corridor could be Zone 6, roughly 6,800 acres — evenly divided between the BLM and the Utah Trust Lands Administration — that was set aside several years ago to offset the impact of the 4.5-mile Northern Corridor Highway.
With revocation of the highway, state and county officials say they will be forced to sell the trust lands in Zone 6 to raise money for Utah schools, which could negatively impact miles of multiple-use trails and rock-climbing features.
While the outcome was expected, foes and fans of the Northern Corridor Highway lauded or lambasted the findings outlined in the final environmental study.
“Today’s announcement marks a critical step toward ensuring lasting protections for Red Cliffs National Conservation Area,” Conserve Southwest Utah Executive Director Holly Snow Canada wrote in an email. “We anticipate the BLM’s final record of decision will once and for all put to rest this ill-conceived highway proposal.
“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 added. “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.”
Conversely, Washington County officials were dismayed by the study and the selection of Red Hills Parkway as the preferred alternative.
“The BLM has rushed this entire process in order to get it done during President Biden’s first term,” Washington County Attorney Eric Clarke told The Salt Lake Tribune via email. “The analysis for their Red Hills Parkway alternative is incomplete, and no serious traffic engineer has agreed that it is a viable option with the 10% design work that has been done.
“We are shocked that they are rushing this through because (1), it will authorize development activities in the Moe’s Valley and Bearclaw Poppy Trail Area; and (2), the Northern Corridor will likely just be reapproved by the Trump administration,” the statement continued. “The most responsible thing BLM could do is to leave the existing protections and right-of-way in place.”
Legal wrangling and courting development
The right-of-way was granted in January 2021, which prompted a lawsuit from Conserve Southwest Utah and other conservation groups that led to the highway being put on hold while the federal agencies conducted a supplemental environmental study aimed at building on the original study.
While revocation of the Northern Corridor Highway won’t become official until the federal agencies release a record of decision within 30 days, conservationists hope the findings in the study will put the matter to rest and state officials will scrap plans to sell its trust lands in Zone 6.
[The] “BLM’s proposed denial of a four-lane high-speed highway through BLM-managed public lands eliminates the primary threat to the desert tortoise and recreation within Zone 3 of the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area,” Todd Tucci, senior attorney with Advocates for the West, wrote in an email. “To be sure, however, the threats from residential development remain to rock climbing, mountain biking, and other recreation on state-owned lands in and around Moe’s Valley. The ball is firmly in the state of Utah’s court to protect these treasured recreational lands, and the state can expect a fight if it seeks to develop Moe’s Valley. We are ready.”
Northern Corridor supporters, however, are not ready to let bygones be bygones. They argue Zone 6′s existence was contingent on the construction of the four-lane highway. Because the Biden administration intends to reverse its prior decision on the road, they continue, the Utah Trust Lands Administration will have to sell the land to developers or other private interests to comply with its mandate to generate money for education.
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Development of the land could negatively impact roughly 60% of all the trails, including the popular Bearclaw Poppy and Zen trails. Development would also adversely affect more than 300 bouldering and 80 rock-climbing routes in and around Moe’s Valley in Zone 6, according to state and local officials.
On Oct. 1, Trust Lands officials already took the first step toward selling the land, soliciting requests for proposals from government agencies about what they might contribute to entice development on about 1,200 acres in the southern half of the administration’s land holdings in Zone 6. The goal is to provide developers with incentives to build high-density affordable homes on the land.
Moreover, Trust Lands Administration officials’ longer-range plans are to sell off another 1,554 acres on the northern half of its property, near Moe’s Valley, which could pave the way for the construction of multimillion-dollar luxury homes on 2.5- and 5-acre lots.
Washington County officials insist the Northern Corridor Highway is needed to reduce traffic congestion in the fast-growing St. George area. According to Dixie Metropolitan Planning Organization numbers, the Northern Corridor would reduce traffic delays by 300,000 hours a year and cut congestion on St. George streets by as much as 15%.
Cooperation or confrontation?
Clarke, the county attorney, said the BLM’s selection of the Red Hills Parkway as the preferred alternative would essentially require the state and local transportation officials to start over because that option involves freeway interchanges that would require the Federal Highway Administration to conduct a new analysis.
In August, Washington County officials sued the BLM and U.S. Fish and Wildlife, accusing the agencies of conducting an improper biological analysis that led to the federal government’s additional environmental study and effectively derailed the Northern Corridor Highway. More legal action is planned, according to county officials.
For their part, Conserve Southwest Utah officials hope the state and local officials opt for cooperation rather than confrontation.
“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,” Snow Canada, the group’s executive director, wrote in an email.
