Feds sued over highway approval through Utah’s Red Cliffs
Ryan Knappenberger
WASHINGTON (CN) — A coalition of conservation groups sued the Trump administration on Wednesday, challenging a decision to renew construction on a four-lane highway through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in southwest Utah that the government previously agreed to halt.
The Center for Biological Diversity filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where it previously challenged an identical plan in 2021 that resulted in a settlement agreement under the Biden administration that ended the proposal.
In addition to bisecting the 44,724-acre conservation area — created by Congress via the Omnibus Public Land Management Act in 2009— the 4.3 mile long highway near St. George, Utah, would run through designated critical habitat for the threatened Mojave desert tortoise, the conservation groups said.
Stacey Wittek, executive director for Conserve Southwest Utah said in a statement that the lawsuit was necessary to halt the project because the Utah Department of Transportation “is wasting no time moving forward with ground-distributing activities.”
“Preservation of Red Cliffs National Conservation Area is inextricably linked to the quality of life and economic prosperity in Washington County,” Wittek said. “Our community has repeatedly made clear that better traffic solutions exist and that they oppose a highway through what should be protected lands.
The center, joined by Conserve Southwest Utah, the Conservation Lands Foundation, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, the Wilderness Society and WildEarth Guardians, is requesting a federal judge declare the re-approved project illegal.
“As in the prior case, the defendants’ decisions here again violate numerous bedrock environmental laws, and defendants have now also run afoul of express commitments made in the 2023 settlement agreement and voluntary remand process from the prior related litigation,” the conservation groups argue.
They specifically challenge the Bureau of Land Management’s Jan. 21 decision to re-approve a proposal by the Utah Department of Transportation on behalf of Washington County. The decision reversed a December 2024 rejected of the same proposal by the bureau and the Fish and Wildlife Service, and marks the eighth time the highway has been up for consideration.
Former Interior Department Secretary David Bernhardt previously approved Utah’s proposal on Jan. 13, 2021. The conservation groups filed their initial lawsuit soon after.
In February 2023, the conservation groups asked U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson for summary judgment, leading to settlement negotiations with the agencies under former President Joe Biden, who then voluntarily remanded the project’s approval.
Under the agreement, the government committed to preparing a supplemental environmental analysis, issuing a new decision on Utah’s proposal, which ultimately resulted in the lawsuit’s voluntary dismissal on Dec. 21, 2023.
In May 2024, the Bureau of Land Management issued its environmental findings that the highway’s construction would increase the probability of fires in the reserve, ultimately increasing the growth of noxious weeds and invasive species while damaging the Mojave desert tortoise’s population.
In December 2024, Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior Laura Daniel-Davis terminated Utah’s proposal “due to the impacts on Mohave desert tortoise, its designated critical habitat and historic properties, and the BLM’s determination that the [highway] is inconsistent with the specific legal direction provided in [the Omnibus Public Land Management Act] for management of the [conservation area].”
After the change in administrations, the bureau issued another environmental assessment on Oct. 3, that reconsidered Utah’s proposal based on “new information” that suggested an alternate route for the Red Hills Parkway Expressway was technically and economically infeasible.
On Jan. 21, the bureau issued its decision re-approving the proposed highway, finding it satisfied the Omnibus Public Land Management Act’s requirements because the project also included a new paved hike and bike path for recreation and scenic views.
In their statement, the Center for Biological Diversity included comments from members and local residents living near the conservation area.
One such resident, Tom Butine of St. George said that the local government had left constituents like him no choice, but said the issue could still be worked out.
“This lawsuit, like the last one, is necessary because our local governments have declined to engage their constituents in an open community dialogue — one that could more clearly define the problem, address its related impacts and explore alternative solutions that have been consistently ignored,” Butine said.
The Bureau of Land Management did not respond to a request for comment.