Tell the BLM: No Way to a Highway through the Red Cliffs!
Back in December, we asked you to tell the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to reject a proposal to build a highway through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area (NCA) near St. George, Utah—home to the densest population of threatened Mojave desert tortoise anywhere on earth.
Now, the BLM has released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the highway proposal, and, as expected, it’s a mess. Despite studying superior, environmentally-protective alternatives located outside the Red Cliffs NCA, the Draft EIS calls for punching a hole through the heart of the Red Cliffs as the agency’s “preferred alternative.”
Tell the BLM where to put its highway by clicking here.
Comments are due by Thursday, September 10th.
Bureau of Reclamation Taking Comments on Lake Powell Pipeline
The Bureau of Reclamation has released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline, which would slurp 86,000 acre feet of water from the Colorado River each year and deliver it 140 miles from Lake Powell to Sand Hollow Reservoir near the city of St. George. If built, the pipeline would scar iconic and scenic landscapes, block wildlife movements, and disturb sacred cultural sites along its route.
Our friends at Conserve Southwest Utah say the Draft EIS fails to evaluate reasonable alternatives, doesn’t adequately address public concerns, and doesn’t include an objective analysis of the environmental and economic impacts the project will have on the residents of Washington County and the state of Utah.
For more information and to submit your comments by Tuesday, September 8th, click here.
Why Is the Trump Administration’s Assault on NEPA Such a Dire Threat to the Redrock? Find Out in Our Latest Podcast
In the current episode of our Wild Utah podcast, SUWA attorneys Landon Newell and Kya Marienfeld discuss the recent Trump administration revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. NEPA and its implementing regulations have been described as our nation’s “Magna Carta for the protection of the environment.” Not surprisingly, the revised regulations severely undermine the dual NEPA requirement of ensuring public participation and scientific scrutiny. When it comes to protecting the redrock, that’s really bad news.
Since its debut in 2018, SUWA’s Wild Utah podcast has covered a number of issues facing redrock country. Please join our growing world of listeners by subscribing to Wild Utah through Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, or on our website.
Photo © SUWA/Twig Media
America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act Picks Up Eight More Cosponsors!
Endorsements of America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act continued to roll in this summer as the following representatives became cosponsors in July and August: Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN), Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Rep Jesus G. “Chuy” Garcia (D-IL), Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), Rep Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-IL), Rep. Ann M. Kuster (D-NH), and Rep. Katherine M. Clark (D-MA). Click here to see the complete list of cosponsors.
If you are a constituent of any of these legislators, please be sure to thank them for their support of wild Utah during these challenging times.
And if your members of Congress are not already cosponsors, please click here to ask them to endorse America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act today!
Take a Virtual Tour of Wilderness Lands at Risk
Want to see what’s happening on the ground from a unique birds-eye perspective? Join SUWA Wildlands Program Director Neal Clark and our friends at EcoFlight for a virtual overflight over the Labyrinth Canyon region to look at wilderness designation, off-road travel planning, and damage from the Bureau of Land Management’s vegetation removal program around Bears Ears National Monument and the Dark Canyon Plateau.
