Northern Corridor Project

Notice of Availability of the Records of Decision for Reconsideration of a Highway Right-of-Way Application and Associated Amendment of an Incidental Take Permit, Washington County, UT

The Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued Records of Decision on December 19, 2024, for the Northern Corridor highway right-of-way project in Washington County, Utah. The BLM ROD terminates the UDOT ROW grant through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area and endorses the Red Hills Parkway Expressway alternative. The FWS ROD amends the 2021 Incidental Take Permit issued to Washington County to remove the Northern Corridor changed circumstance and reinstate desert tortoise take authorization in Zone 6. These decisions follow remand by a federal court after conservation groups challenged the 2021 approvals on NEPA, NHPA, and ESA grounds.

Notice of Availability of the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement To Reconsider a Highway Right-of-Way Application and Associated Amendment of an Incidental Take Permit, Washington County, UT

The Bureau of Land Management and Fish and Wildlife Service, as co-lead agencies, announce the availability of the Final Supplemental EIS for the Northern Corridor Project, a proposed highway right-of-way (ROW) north of St. George, Utah, crossing BLM-managed lands in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area. The supplemental analysis was required by a 2023 court-ordered remand of the agencies' 2021 ROD, which approved UDOT's ROW grant, after litigation revealed deficiencies in wildfire analysis and NHPA compliance. The Final Supplemental EIS evaluates six alternatives, including five highway alignments and ROW termination. BLM's preferred alternative is the Red Hills Parkway Expressway, which would remove Reserve Zone 6 from the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.

Notice of Availability of the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement To Reconsider a Highway Right-of-Way Application and Associated Amendment of an Incidental Take Permit, Washington County, Utah