A Utah county is suing the Interior Department in the latest legal twist in the yearslong battle over a proposed highway corridor through desert tortoise habitat in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area.
Washington County’s legal complaint alleges a slew of federal law and rule violations associated with the Biden administration’s decision last year to reevaluate former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s approval of the corridor in the closing days of the Trump presidency.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, comes as the Bureau of Land Management is expected this fall to decide whether to reject or uphold that approval based on a fresh analysis.
The 500-foot-wide Northern Corridor would allow construction of a four-lane highway that proponents — including Utah Republican Sens. Mike Lee and Mitt Romney — have argued is badly needed to ease traffic congestion in the city of St. George, which is one of the nation’s fastest-growing metropolitan areas.
