Conservation groups are suing the federal government after the recent approval of a highway through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in Washington County. There are six conservation and environmental groups that are part of this lawsuit, including Conserve Southwest Utah and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
The suit was filed against the Bureau of Land Management and the Fish and Wildlife Service, alleging that the creation of the highway would violate federal laws and harm the endangered Mojave tortoise, which lives in the area.
“We revisited the previous environmental impact statements and encouraged the public to submit further comments for consideration in this environmental assessment,” said BLM Color Country District Manager Gloria Tibbetts in the January 2026 press release. “We are committed to continually monitor our decisions and balance our responsibilities as public land managers and good neighbors.”
Some members of the conservation groups believe the project is a waste of time and resources.
“To continue to push for a widely rejected and illegal highway and expect a different result is a waste of everyone’s resources,” said Hannah Goldblatt, staff attorney at Advocates for the West. “And once again, federal agencies are complicit in the effort by approving the paving of this congressionally protected, sensitive, scenic landscape.”
The highway has been under discussion since 2018, when the Utah Department of Transportation requested another highway be built to ease congestion in the area. Public comment periods were held in 2020, 2024 and 2025 to discuss the project, but it wasn’t approved until January 2026.
The latest approval of the project is the eighth time that the project has been considered. Under the Biden Administration, the BLM reversed its decision on building the highway and looked for alternative solutions.
A few dozen tortoises will be moved to another location the BLM allocated for their habitat.
“The state will receive 929 acres of public lands in Warner Valley of eastern Washington County, and the BLM will receive 89 private acres designated as critical habitat for the Mojave desert tortoise within the conservation area,” the BLM said in a May 2025 press release. “An appraisal was conducted to ensure the exchange was executed at a fair market value.”
Author: Lainey Porter
Photo: courtesy of Bureau of Land Management Utah
Editor: Hannah Clove
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