Fury over plans to close stunning Utah hiking trail for outrageous reason

Utah residents are up in arms over plans to close popular scenic hiking trails to make way for luxury mansions.

The Bearclaw Poppy and Zen trails in Washington County could be affected by the plans as they fall within a 6,800-acre area called Zone 6 that officials are preparing for construction.

Outdoor enthusiasts have launched an effort to stop the development, with opponents also citing the area’s turtle population as being at risk.

“Almost every mountain biker who has ever visited St. George has ridden that trail,” resident Supe Lillywhite told the Salt Lake Tribune.

“What can’t coexist is building a house or a driveway on top of a turtle’s burrow…The turtles will have to be moved or they will die off in the area.”

Lillywhite is part of the campaign to save the Zone 6 ecosystem, which… online petition collect thousands of signatures.

The reason the popular trails could be closed stems from a decision by the Trump administration in January 2021 to extend the Northern Corridor Highway across the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area.

Zone 6, a parcel of land divided equally between the Federal Bureau of Land Management and the Utah Trust Lands Administration, was subsequently set aside to offset the impact of highway construction.

Washington County and federal officials have announced plans to build both affordable and luxury housing on the Mojave Desert parcel, although highway development has been put on hold.

Construction of the highway will only restart after an environmental study into the impact of the plans, and Utah will be forced to sell its trust lands in Zone 6 if it is not approved.

Aaron Langston, assistant director of the Trust Lands Administration’s Washington County office, said this week that “if the federal government undoes their agreement, we will simply undo our agreement.”

Officials say the developments would bring an economic boom to the area and make room for the construction of a number of multi-million dollar homes. A Utah McMansion is pictured

While construction of the highway remains in limbo, officials did begin construction on October 1 after the Trust Lands Administration submitted a request to government agencies for development plans for 1,200 hectares of Zone 6.

Langston said he hopes this will spark an economic boom in the area, and in January he said the state would then put the parcel up for sale to private developers to build homes on the land.

Officials have indicated that they also expect to build on more than 1,500 hectares in the northern part of the area in the future.

And while state and county lawmakers are eager to build on the area, residents and outdoor enthusiasts say losing the trails would be a disaster for the area.

Langston estimated that if the land is developed, about 60 percent of all trails in Zone 6 would be affected.

The area is also known for its rock climbing, with more than 300 bouldering and 80 rock climbing routes also set to be affected.

The area is known for excellent mountain biking and bouldering trails, but officials say up to 60 percent of trails and some rock climbing routes will be affected.

Holly Snow Canada, executive director of the anti-housing environmental group Conserve Southwest Utah, emphasized that officials in Utah would have had other options available.

“If the Northern Corridor Highway is denied, there are many ways to protect the Greater Moe’s Valley area in a way that is permanent and safer than the current voluntary ‘Zone 6’ agreement,” she told the Salt Lake Tribune.

“Washington County has spent millions of dollars over the past decades on a highway that would worsen traffic, increase the risk of wildfires and harm beloved recreational areas, instead of using that time and resources to protect the places important to the community .

“Now is the time for our local leaders to take action and say ‘no’ to the highway through our backyard treasure, Red Cliffs, and ‘yes’ to permanent protection of the recreational gem that is the Greater Moe’s Valley Area. ‘