BLM to study hotly contested corridor in conservation area

摘要

The Trump administration announced today it will evaluate a controversial proposal pushed by Utah'scongressional delegation to build a transportation corridor through a national conservation area that includeshabitat for a threatened tortoise.The proposed "Northern Corridor" project has been discussed in some form or another for more than a decade.A massive public lands omnibus bill signed by President Obama in 2009 authorized its study.Proponents of the 4-mile-long highway corridor that would cross the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area insouthwest Utah's Washington County say it is badly needed to ease traffic congestion in the city of St. George,which is one of the nation's fastest-growing metropolitan areas.