St. George • The on-and-off-again Northern Corridor Highway is officially back on again.
Thirteen months after rejecting the right-of-way for the polarizing road, the Bureau of Land Management announced Wednesday that it has approved construction of the four-lane highway that will cut across the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, protected land set aside for Mojave desert tortoises and other endangered species.
In overturning that rejection, the BLM discarded a previously endorsed alternative to upgrade the Red Hills Parkway that it had said would pose less environmental risk and facilitate better east-west traffic flows. The Northern Corridor project was initially approved by the first Trump administration in 2021.
Washington County officials, who have long championed the road they said was needed to cut traffic congestion in the St. George area by 15% during peak travel times, celebrated the news.
“Washington County is so pleased with the Trump administration and its work that led to the federal decision announced today,” Washington County Commissioner Adam Snow said in a statement. “This plan is the only feasible way to balance conservation and provide for our county’s transportation and recreation needs.”
Commissioner Victor Iverson also hailed the BLM’s decision to reissue the right-of-way for the road that was revoked in the waning days of the Biden administration.
“Washington County has diligently worked on this issue for decades, while unelected bureaucrats played political football with our infrastructure needs,” Iverson said in a statement. “While the Biden Administration unilaterally undid the protections put in place, I am excited that wrong has been corrected with the help of President Trump and BLM.”
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Environmental groups panned the decision and raised concerns about approving a road project through an area that was designated to protect the desert tortoise and other wildlife.
“Continuing the crusade to build a highway in a Congressionally-designated conservation area is not only illegal, it is — after more than a decade of failed attempts — downright foolish,” Kya Marienfeld, wildlands attorney at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance said in a statement.
Stacey Wittek, the executive director of Conserve Southwest Utah, called the decision “deeply disappointing” for the community members who have been voicing their opposition to the highway for years.
“The fight to protect Red Cliffs National Conservation Area is far from over,” she added. “We are carefully assessing every available option to protect this important and iconic land for future generations.”
Lisa Belenky, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity, also committed to fight the highway that she called “unlawful and unwise.”
“BLM’s decision to reverse itself is a disastrous mistake,” she said. “Bulldozing a highway through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area would destroy some of the last best habitat for threatened desert tortoises and forever scar this rare natural refuge.”
(Jason Jones | Utah Division of Wildlife Resources) A desert tortoise in its native habitat in Washington County.
After the Northern Corridor’s initial approval in 2021, Conserve Southwest Utah and other conservation groups filed a lawsuit, which prompted the federal agencies to conduct a supplemental environmental study aimed at building on the original study.
Federal officials then revoked that approval in late 2024 when that supplemental study found the highway bisecting 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.
The BLM reopened its review of the Northern Corridor in September after the agency said it found issues with its previous decision to endorse the expansion of the existing Red Hills Parkway instead of paving a new road through the conservation area.
In its decision released Wednesday, the BLM said its 2024 decision “was based on a faulty factual premise.” After reviewing additional information provided by the Utah Department of Transportation, it found that the expansion of the Red Hills Parkway was “not technically or economically feasible,” according to the BLM.
What this means for Moe’s Valley
Northern Corridor supporters say the decision ensures the survival of lands in “Zone 6,” about 6,800 acres added to the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve in 2021 to offset the highway’s impacts on desert tortoise habitat. When the highway was taken off the table, protections for Zone 6 went away.
Zone 6 includes Moe’s Valley, a popular hiking, climbing and mountain biking area, which the Trust Land Administration, which owns half the land, had plans to develop unless the Northern Corridor was built. With the approval of the highway, the reserve will be expanded again to include Zone 6.
In anticipation of a decision from BLM, the county on Tuesday voted for a necessary land exchange for the Northern Corridor and Zone 6. The county will give up 450 acres of land in Zone 6 to the Division of Wildlife Resources, and the division will transfer 45 acres of land in the path of the future Northern Corridor to UDOT.
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Newly elected St. George Mayor Jimmie Hughes, who campaigned on a pledge to help get the highway approved, hailed the decision as a “win-win.”
“Not only do we preserve Zone 6, which includes Moe’s Valley, and protect an exponentially larger amount of open space, which includes the desert tortoise,” he explained, “but we also secure the vital transportation corridor mandated by Congress that will benefit our residents for years to come.”
Supe Lillywhite, manager of the local gear shop Desert Rat, has been outspoken about protecting the lands in Zone 6, but said this issue is far from over.
“I hope that people understand that this is not a resolution to the issue,” he told The Tribune. “There are going to be lawsuits regarding this that will take a long time to resolve. The county and conservation groups are still very much at odds over this.”
Lillywhite said he hopes that St. George officials will get more involved in the issue to find a solution that works for everyone.