‘Government at its worst’: Local officials express frustration with feds at field hearing in southwestern Utah

HURRICANE, Utah (ABC4) — Monday was Earth Day, and in a congressional field hearing in the red rock desert of southwestern Utah, state and local officials expressed frustration over the federal government’s conservation decisions regarding development on public lands.

Adam Snow, a Washington County commissioner, testified before the House Federal Lands Subcommittee saying he felt “insulted” that federal officials never seek his counsel on how to best conserve the land his family has called home since the 1840s.

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“Nobody can love this county more than I do,” he said. “Some people might be able to love it just as much, but nobody loves it more, I guarantee you that…For someone to come in from Connecticut or California and say, ‘Trust us, you’ve screwed it up for the last 180 years, let us tell you how to do it.’ It’s insulting.”

Similar sentiments were expressed by other Utah officials tapped to testify at the hearing, which was chaired by Rep. John Curtis of Utah’s 3rd District. He noted that over two-thirds of Utah’s land is controlled by the U.S. government, making dealing with federal agencies a constant for many local officials.

Other elected lawmakers who joined Curtis at the Rock Bowl in Hurricane were Rep. Blake Moore, of Utah’s 1st District, and Rep. Celeste Maloy, whose 2nd District includes southwestern Utah. Maloy invited the subcommittee to Washington County.

“We’ve got to hold our bureaucracies accountable when they are not doing the will of the people,” she told the packed crowd.

The biggest point of contention during testimony was the Northern Corridor project. The proposed 4.5-mile highway would cut through part of the Red Cliffs Conservation Area, which was established in 2009 to protect endangered Mojave desert tortoise habitat.

The same bill that allowed for the creation of conservation area also carved out congressional approval for a northern transportation route in Washington County. Yet, no road has been built, even though local and state officials say it’s critical to relieve traffic in one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country.

“In the last 34 years, the area has grown over 400%,” Carlos Braceras, executive director of UDOT, testified. He added that long-term plans have identified the need for the road since the 1980s.

Washington County Attorney Eric Clarke testified that during the Trump administration, an agreement was reached between the Bureau of Land Management and local officials to allow a right of way for the highway in exchange for preserving a nearly 7,000-acre section of nearby tortoise habitat. This section of land, known as Zone 6, is also popular with mountain bikers and rock climbers.

But last year, under the Biden administration, federal agencies announced they were revisiting the highway’s environmental impact statement. This came following a settlement reached with environmental groups that filed a lawsuit against the highway project on the grounds it would damage critical tortoise habitat and set a dangerous precedent for other conservation areas.

Clarke described the scrapping of the deal as “mind blowing,” and he added that it also puts parts of Zone 6 at risk of commercial development. Additionally, Snow testified that the action permanently damaged the relationship between local and federal officials working in good faith toward conservation projects.

“Better to start suing for what you need and let the courts decide,” Snow said. “This is truly government at its worst.”

But not everyone in the audience left this way. Many of the attendees wore green and stickers saying “No Highway Thru Red Cliffs.” There was no public comment period, so no other local voices were heard aside from the officials on stage.

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Holly Snow Canada, the executive director of Conserve Southwest Utah, said that the hearing excluded local and indigenous voices and presented a one-sided view of the case.

“The hypocrisy of holding a hearing about dismantling public lands on Earth Day was not lost on the over 100 people who came out to support keeping Red Cliffs intact and in opposition to the Northern Corridor Highway,” she said, in a statement.

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