U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

55–494 PDF WASHINGTON : 2024

EMPOWERING LOCAL VOICES AND 

STOPPING FEDERAL OVERREACH 

TO IMPROVE THE MANAGEMENT OF 

UTAH’S PUBLIC LANDS 

OVERSIGHT FIELD HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON FEDERAL LANDS 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

Monday, April 22, 2024, in Hurricane, Utah 

Serial No. 118–113 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Natural Resources 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov 

or 

Committee address: http://naturalresources.house.gov 
(II) 

COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES 

BRUCE WESTERMAN, AR, Chairman 

DOUG LAMBORN, CO, Vice Chairman 

RAU ́ L M. GRIJALVA, AZ, Ranking Member 

Doug Lamborn, CO 

Robert J. Wittman, VA 

Tom McClintock, CA 

Paul Gosar, AZ 

Garret Graves, LA 

Aumua Amata C. Radewagen, AS 

Doug LaMalfa, CA 

Daniel Webster, FL 

Jenniffer Gonza ́lez-Colo ́n, PR 

Russ Fulcher, ID 

Pete Stauber, MN 

John R. Curtis, UT 

Tom Tiffany, WI 

Jerry Carl, AL 

Matt Rosendale, MT 

Lauren Boebert, CO 

Cliff Bentz, OR 

Jen Kiggans, VA 

Jim Moylan, GU 

Wesley P. Hunt, TX 

Mike Collins, GA 

Anna Paulina Luna, FL 

John Duarte, CA 

Harriet M. Hageman, WY 

Grace F. Napolitano, CA 

Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, CNMI 

Jared Huffman, CA 

Ruben Gallego, AZ 

Joe Neguse, CO 

Mike Levin, CA 

Katie Porter, CA 

Teresa Leger Ferna ́ndez, NM 

Melanie A. Stansbury, NM 

Mary Sattler Peltola, AK 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, NY 

Kevin Mullin, CA 

Val T. Hoyle, OR 

Sydney Kamlager-Dove, CA 

Seth Magaziner, RI 

Nydia M. Vela ́zquez, NY 

Ed Case, HI 

Debbie Dingell, MI 

Susie Lee, NV 

Vivian Moeglein, Staff Director 

Tom Connally, Chief Counsel 

Lora Snyder, Democratic Staff Director 

http://naturalresources.house.gov 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON FEDERAL LANDS 

TOM TIFFANY, WI, Chairman 

JOHN R. CURTIS, UT, Vice Chair 

JOE NEGUSE, CO, Ranking Member 

Doug Lamborn, CO 

Tom McClintock, CA 

Russ Fulcher, ID 

Pete Stauber, MN 

John R. Curtis, UT 

Cliff Bentz, OR 

Jen Kiggans, VA 

Jim Moylan, GU 

Bruce Westerman, AR, ex officio 

Katie Porter, CA 

Sydney Kamlager-Dove, CA 

Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, CNMI 

Mike Levin, CA 

Teresa Leger Ferna ́ndez, NM 

Mary Sattler Peltola, AK 

Rau ́l M. Grijalva, AZ, ex officio 
(III) 

CONTENTS 

Page 

Hearing held on Monday, April 22, 2024 ............................................................... 1 

Statement of Members: 

Curtis, Hon. John R., a Representative in Congress from the State of 

Utah ............................................................................................................... 3 

Maloy, Hon. Celeste, a Representative in Congress from the State of 

Utah ............................................................................................................... 5 

Statement of Witnesses: 

Snow, Honorable Adam, Commissioner, Washington County, St. George, 

Utah ............................................................................................................... 7 

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 9 

Clarke, Honorable Eric, County Attorney, Washington County, St. 

George, Utah ................................................................................................. 11 

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 13 

Braceras, Carlos, Executive Director, Utah Department of Transportation, Taylorsville, Utah ............................................................................. 16 

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 18 

Renstrom, Zachary, General Manager, Washington County Water Conservancy District, St. George, Utah .................................................................. 23 

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 25 

Stewart, Darcy, President and CEO, Sunriver St. George Development, 

LLC, St. George, Utah .................................................................................. 27 

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 28 

Additional Materials Submitted for the Record: 

Submissions for the Record by Representative Maloy 

Utah Department of Wildlife Resources, Statement for the Record ..... 41 

(1) 

OVERSIGHT HEARING ON EMPOWERING 

LOCAL VOICES AND STOPPING FEDERAL 

OVERREACH TO IMPROVE THE MANAGEMENT 

OF UTAH’S PUBLIC LANDS 

Monday, April 22, 2024 

U.S. House of Representatives 

Subcommittee on Federal Lands 

Committee on Natural Resources 

Hurricane, Utah 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 12:03 p.m., at The 

Rock Bowl, 5665 West Clubhouse Drive, Hurricane, Utah, Hon. 

John R. Curtis [Vice Chair of the Subcommittee] presiding. 

Present: Representative Curtis. 

Also present: Representatives Maloy and Moore of Utah. 

Mr. CURTIS. Good afternoon. 

I would like to welcome everybody to an official Subcommittee on 

Federal Lands oversight hearing entitled, ‘‘Empowering Local 

Voices and Stopping Federal Overreach to Improve Management of 

Utah’s Public Lands.’’ 

My name is John Curtis, and I represent Utah’s 3rd Congressional District. I also serve as the Vice Chairman of the Federal 

Lands Subcommittee in Washington. 

I would like to thank the newest member of Utah’s Congressional 

Delegation, Congresswoman Maloy, for inviting the Natural 

Resources Committee to hold this important hearing in her district. 

By the way, I am told that this is the largest crowd that we have 

enjoyed in one of these field hearings before. So, thank you to all 

of you for showing up. 

[Applause.] 

Mr. CURTIS. I would also like to thank The Rock Bowl for hosting 

us today and providing the perfect backdrop for our hearing. Can 

you imagine anywhere better in the United States? We are so 

fortunate to live here. Thank you. 

It is not in my script because they wrote it, but I also need to 

give a shout-out to the staff of the Natural Resources Committee 

who have put a lot of work in today’s hearing, flown from 

Washington to be here. So, big shout-out to them and thanks for 

their help. 

[Applause.] 

Mr. CURTIS. The Subcommittee is gathered here today to hold an 

official hearing examining Federal overreach that is limiting access 

to Utah’s public lands and to discuss solutions that would give 

Utah a greater say in how these lands are managed. 

Now, I think it is important, I have said the word ‘‘official’’ a 

couple of times, because this is an official proceeding under the 

Rules of the House. That doesn’t give us very much flexibility in 

how we do things. 
2 

I would also like to note, you will notice that there are three 

Members that I will introduce here in a minute from the House of 

Representatives. 

All of the members of the Natural Resources Committee, both 

Republicans and Democrats, were invited to today’s hearing. The 

Committee generously offered to pay for transportation here. So, 

the fact that they are not here does not mean they weren’t invited. 

It just simply means a choice. 

They also have the ability to submit their testimonies for the 

record. So, even though they may not be here today, they can do 

that as well. 

Before we begin, I would like to remind everybody about the 

rules of decorum for official congressional proceedings. 

I ask that there not be any kind of disruption regarding the testimony given here today. It is important that we respect the Rules 

of the Committee and of the House and allow all the Members and 

the public to hear our proceedings. 

If you missed it, there are ways for you to comment. There were 

comment cards as you walked in, if you didn’t get one, those will 

also become part of the official record, and we encourage everybody 

to do that. 

We would now like to be led in the Pledge of Allegiance by 

County Commissioner Bruce Adams. 

Mr. ADAMS. Please join me in the pledge. 

[Group recitation of Pledge of Allegiance.] 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you. 

I would now like to invite Mr. Jimi Kestin, a member of the 

Interfaith Council and a pastor here in Washington, to lead us in 

prayer. 

Mr. KESTIN. Let us pray. 

My gracious and merciful Heavenly Father, we are so grateful to 

be in this amazing place that you have given us to live in southern 

Utah, and we welcome our Representatives from other parts of the 

state and our Congressperson here for this hearing. 

We lift up all those in elected office at the Federal, state, and 

local level regardless of party, that you would put a hand of protection upon them, keep their families safe. 

We lift up all those who have put their names in during this election season for elected office at every level of government, Lord, 

that we would have an election season that uplifts the values that 

represent this nation and then we would have peace and 

prosperity. 

We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 

Mr. CURTIS. Amen. Thank you so much. 

The official proceedings do not allow for much of an introduction, 

but we do have a number of elected officials that are here today, 

and I would like to just ask them to stand for a minute to be 

recognized. 

Our county and our city and any state elected officials, if you 

would just stand and let us recognize you. 

[Applause.] 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you for being here. 

Now a few housekeeping items. 
3 

One of the very first things I intend to do is take off my jacket 

and I welcome our witnesses to also, you notice they are all in navy 

blue. So, please feel comfortable. 

For those of you who are not in this gracious shade that we have, 

please, there is water over there. Let’s make sure nobody gets too 

warm or too hot today in today’s hearing. 

Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a recess of 

the Committee at any time. I ask unanimous consent that the following Members be allowed to participate in today’s hearing from 

the dais: the gentleman and gentlewoman from Utah, Mr. Moore 

and Ms. Maloy. 

Without objection, so ordered. 

Under Committee Rule 4(f), any oral opening statement at 

hearings are limited to the Chairman and the Ranking Minority 

Member. I, therefore, ask unanimous consent that all other 

Members’ opening statements be made part of the hearing record 

if they are submitted in accordance with Committee Rule 3(o). 

Without objection, so ordered. 

I will now recognize myself for the opening statement. 

STATEMENT OF THE HON. JOHN R. CURTIS, A 

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF UTAH 

Mr. CURTIS. Before I do, the format of this is one that we follow 

in Washington, DC, and doesn’t really allow for public comment. I 

understand that might be frustrating to some of you, so I can tell 

you that personally, I will be able to stay after and would love to 

talk to any of you and hear any feedback that you have. 

To the extent that their time allows, I offer that same opportunity for my two colleagues to the right. And please know that we 

do want to hear everybody’s comments, but the format today does 

not allow for public comment. 

I want to begin by thanking the people of Washington County for 

hosting us here today in what is truly a remarkable venue. 

I would also like to thank my colleague, Representative Maloy, 

for inviting the Natural Resources Committee to hold this. 

As I am sure everyone is aware, today is Earth Day. It is entirely 

fitting that we are gathered outside for this hearing. Earth Day 

reminds us of how fortunate we are as Utahns to live amongst such 

astounding natural beauty and of the unparalleled opportunities 

that exist in this state for enjoying the great outdoors. 

Yet, these opportunities face significant threats. There are many 

outside our state pushing policies that prevent people from fully 

enjoying access to their public lands. 

Roughly two-thirds of Utah is federally owned. Stop and think 

about that just for a moment. We have counties with over 90 

percent Federal ownership. Imagine trying to run a county when 

90 percent of your property doesn’t pay property tax and you can’t 

control what happens. 

So, any burdensome restriction or red tape limiting access has a 

disproportionate impact on our state’s residents and can substantially reduce their quality of life. In the most rural part of my 

district, over 90 percent of certain counties are public lands. 

Across our state, Federal mismanagement and overreach has 

raised housing costs, starved local governments of needed tax 
4 

revenues, limited economic opportunities, and deprived residents of 

the ability to engage in multiple uses of nearby public lands. 

Utahns know best how to manage these lands, and I will continue to fight to increase their stewardship of them in their own 

backyard. 

Take the housing issue, for instance. Utah currently suffers from 

the seventh-highest housing prices in the nation. Between 2017 

and 2022, only a 5-year period, the average price of a home in Utah 

nearly doubled. 

Our state leaders have taken big strides to counteract this crisis, 

but there is only so much that can be done when the Federal 

Government owns so much land. 

In fact, a recent study showed that if the Federal Government 

were to free up a mere 0.1 percent of all its land holdings, less than 

one-tenth of 1 percent, for residential development, housing would 

become newly affordable for 4.7 million Americans. That would 

address 35 percent of Utah’s housing shortages. 

This is why I introduced the HOUSES Act, with Senator Lee, to 

allow local governments to nominate certain parcels to build affordable housing. These are areas ripe for development, lacking any 

conservation value, and going completely unutilized due to Federal 

law. 

My bill is just one piece of the puzzle but a critical one to support 

local governments who are completely surrounded by Federal land 

with economic development. 

Washington County has done an incredible job accommodating 

the people moving into this area at a historic rate. They need all 

the tools available with no Federal red tape as they work to lower 

water consumption to accommodate this growing population, a 

truly incredible feat by one of the fastest-growing counties in the 

country. 

The Federal Government has also disregarded collaboration, to 

instead use the deeply divisive Antiquities Act. These actions happen at the whim of the sitting President with barely any consultation or regard for Utahns who live closest to the boundaries of 

these monuments. 

Despite having the most to lose from these preservationist policies, the voices have routinely fallen on deaf ears of the fairway in 

DC. This Federal intrusion jeopardizes the very freedoms of outdoor lifestyles that attracted so many to Utah in the first place. 

Not long ago, the Federal Government proudly advanced policies 

that encouraged state and local interests out West. Our farmers, 

ranchers, energy production, and cities flourished as a direct result. 

That is what we mean when we talk about conservation, empowering local communities who live closest to these lands, to steward 

them in an environmentally and economically responsible way, and 

those ideas don’t have to be mutually exclusive. 

If we are to restore any semblance of that arrangement, we will 

have to begin by empowering local communities like Hurricane and 

St. George. 

To that end, I am proud to have led the various initiatives that 

would stop Federal overreach and put Utah back in the driver’s 

seat on conservation. 
5 

This includes legislation that I introduced last year called the 

Western Economic Security Today Act, or WEST Act, which passed 

out of the Natural Resources Committee and will soon head to the 

House Floor. 

My bill would permanently withdraw the BLM’s so-called Public 

Lands Rule. This rule, which the BLM finalized just 4 days ago, 

undermines the agency’s statutory multiple-use mandate and limits 

access to Utah’s public lands for energy and mineral development, 

grazing, forest management, and recreation. 

The rule favors wealthy individuals and environmental groups by 

creating a new, convoluted leasing system that will allow them to 

lock up lands that belong to all Utahns. 

I sent a letter nearly 1 year ago to 13 of my Natural Resources 

colleagues asking the agency to hold more public listening sessions 

on this rule, including holding a session for Utahns. The agency 

ignored this request and finalized this rule without hearing from 

you. 

The combination of these two rules would fundamentally upend 

multiple uses of our lands and the Western way of life. Any new 

use of Federal lands should be initiated by Congress, not the will 

of one person. 

By advancing this legislation, we are promoting true conservation rooted in local input, rather than preservationist policies 

handed down by the Biden administration. 

I also never hesitate to brag that Utah has robust energy and 

mineral production on public lands, some of the cleanest in the 

world. This production on public lands is critical to everything from 

funds for Utah schools and ensuring the domestic supply. 

I want to thank all the witnesses for being here today, and I look 

forward to the insights that each of you will bring to this important 

discussion. 

With that, I will now recognize Representative Maloy for her 

opening statement. 

STATEMENT OF THE HON. CELESTE MALOY, A 

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF UTAH 

Ms. MALOY. I am really excited to be here today. I feel like lightning has struck me twice. This is the second time that I have participated in a congressional field hearing in Washington County on 

these same issues. 

Our bureaucracy is broken, and I am really grateful that you are 

all here to be part of this because it matters. Participation matters. 

How many people show up and pay attention to what is happening 

to our lands and in Washington, DC, really matters. 

In the early 2000s, Washington County stepped up to be the 

poster child for cooperation when it comes to public lands management and access. Washington County went to the bargaining table 

with environmental groups, with the Federal Government, with 

state agencies, with all of the stakeholders, and worked out a 

compromise bill. 

It was called the Washington County Lands Bill, and it became 

part of OPLMA, the 2009 Omnibus Lands Bill, signed by President 

Obama. This is not a right-wing attempt at limiting any environmental protections on land. 
6 

In that bill, the Red Cliffs NCA, National Conservation Area, 

was created. In the same bill, the Secretary of the Interior was 

ordered to work with Washington County and St. George City to 

find a route for a Northern Corridor, a route from east to west in 

Washington County that has been part of the county’s transportation plan for decades. 

That was one of the things they bargained for in this bill, signed 

into law, passed by Congress. That was in 2009. It is 2024, and we 

are still sitting here talking about this bill. 

In early 2016, we had a congressional field hearing at the Dixie 

Center and asked BLM why their new resource management plan 

didn’t have any good alternatives for a Northern Corridor route, 

and we were told that they were told to consider it, and they had 

considered it, and decided that they didn’t want to do it. 

That isn’t what agencies are supposed to do in response to laws 

passed by Congress. So, here we are again, talking about the same 

thing. 

We got a record of decision at the end of the last Administration 

allowing for that route, and as soon as we got a new Administration, they immediately repealed the record of decision, and now we 

are in a lawsuit, all so that people in this county can have a route 

that has been part of their transportation plan for decades, for 

which they bargained, they came to the table in good faith and 

bargained for this route. 

Additionally, there is a lot of information out there about what 

a road through an NCA would do, how it should be illegal, how it 

would be harmful to tortoises. 

Even though Congress, who has the authority over public land, 

decided in the same piece of legislation that a conservation area 

and a route were compatible, we are still having this argument 

with bureaucrats, unelected bureaucrats, who don’t come hold 

these hearings, who aren’t hearing from you, who aren’t accountable, who you can’t vote out of office. 

To make this work, the county worked with the State Institutional Trust Lands and with local governments, with the state, and 

offered up what we call Zone 6, a 3,000-acre piece of land here in 

Washington County that has as dense of tortoise habitat as any 

tortoise habitat that has been preserved since the 1990s, in 

exchange for a road that would impact about 150 acres. So, 3,000 

acres to mitigate for 150 acres. 

And that 150 acres that would be part of the right-of-way would 

have culverts, would be porous, would allow tortoises through. And 

we have good science on Red Hills Parkway that shows that tortoises will use culverts. They will move back and forth underneath 

a road. It will not destroy their habitat. 

The county has been more than generous in offering up mitigation for this. And now what people who came to that bargaining 

table and pretended to bargain in good faith are asking for is they 

want the 3,000 acres and they also don’t want to get a route. 

I mean, this is what is broken about our bureaucracy. That is the 

definition of insanity. They want us to pay for the road and not get 

the road and still have the congestion on our surface streets in St. 

George City. 
7 

That is why we are here having a field hearing today because we 

have to be able to hold bureaucracies accountable when they are 

not doing the will of the people. 

Congress is elected by the people and is accountable to the people. Agencies are not. And when Congress tells an agency what to 

do, their job is to act, not to drag their feet, not to play politics, 

not to use rules and obfuscation to keep from doing the things that 

Congress has asked them to do. 

I thank you all for being here today. I look forward to hearing 

from the witnesses. We will ask more questions to get more of the 

details about this out. But thank you for participating in this 

process because this is representative government in its purest 

form. 

Mr. CURTIS. We will now move to our panel of witnesses. 

Let me remind the witnesses that under Committee Rules, you 

must limit your oral statements to 5 minutes, but your entire statement will appear in the hearing record. 

To begin your testimony, please press the ‘‘on’’ button on the 

microphone. We will use timing lights, which none of us can see 

because of the sun. When you begin, the light will turn green. At 

the end of 5 minutes, the light will turn red, and I will ask you 

to please complete your statement. 

I will now recognize our first witness, the Honorable Adam Snow, 

Commissioner for Washington County. 

Commissioner Snow, you have 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE ADAM SNOW, 

COMMISSIONER, WASHINGTON COUNTY, ST. GEORGE, UTAH 

Mr. SNOW. Good afternoon, distinguished members of the 

Committee and staff. On behalf of my colleagues at the Washington 

County Commission, Victor Iverson and Gil Almquist, we welcome 

you to Washington County, otherwise known as paradise. 

I am a seventh-generation son of Washington County. My third 

great grandfather, Erastus Snow, led the company of families 

called to settle the Dixie Cotton Mission. 

It was a harsh and unforgiving land, but thanks to their endurance and perseverance, forward thinking and cooperation, what we 

call the Dixie spirit, they overcame the challenges and developed 

this incredible place we now call home. 

We are the poster child, as Congresswoman Maloy just said, of 

cooperative efforts between diverse stakeholders. We work 

constantly to balance responsible growth, smart planning, longterm strategy, and resource conservation, while honoring our 

heritage. 

This unique partnership strategy has allowed us to be the 

fastest-growing community in the nation most of the last 20 years. 

Unfortunately, our cooperative efforts are directly threatened by 

the recent actions of the Biden administration through backroom 

deals struck with fringe environmental groups for political gain in 

an election year. 

Now, some ask us why this is such an important issue for us. 

The County is fairly condensed into a ‘‘U’’ shape with over a 

quarter of a million daily visitors and residents traveling east-west, 
8 

creating a pinch point in the middle, where we are rapidly 

approaching traffic failure and collapse. 

The cooperative agreement reached in the 2020 EIS, as you 

alluded to, to address this issue was a good deal. It was a win for 

conservation. It was a win for transportation. It was a win for the 

residents and visitors. It was a win for the various threatened and 

endangered species. And it followed Federal law in the mandate of 

OPLMA in 2009. 

It was a process that allowed every stakeholder to claim victory, 

which is exceptional in modern times. 

Pathetically, some fringe environmental groups weren’t happy 

with that cooperation, and unfortunately it appears the Deep State 

of unelected bureaucrats in DC will roll this back to score political 

points in an election year. 

Throughout this SEIS process, the Department of the Interior 

has made constant, significant errors in the face of NEPA. The 

traffic modeling is outdated given our explosive population growth. 

BLM does not even have an engineer on this project or updated 

data. Our local traffic planners offered to provide it to them, but 

BLM will not wait a few weeks until it is complete. 

Instead, they plan to release the draft SEIS before it has even 

received, let alone analyzed, that traffic data. BLM says it will 

include it as an appendix in the final SEIS, which means the public 

will have no opportunity to see the analysis or comment on it 

before the decision is made. 

This is only one of many examples of the Department of the 

Interior omitting regular analysis to adhere to their political 

timeline. 

As for the SEIS schedule, we are in almost a decade of working 

on Federal land issues around the Western United States. This is 

the first time I have ever seen the BLM stick to a timeline. 

Fifteen years after OPLMA mandated a transportation management plan through the NCA, they gave them 3 years to do it, 15 

years later, they don’t even have a plan to start working on it. 

But a backroom sue-and-settle deal with fringe environmental 

groups dictates a divinely decreed deadline for them. 

Perhaps the most discouraging outcome of this entire thing is the 

permanent relationship damage. 

We will be loud in declaring to counties and states across the 

nation that they should not partner with the Department of the 

Interior because the Federal Government will turn its back on 

decades of cooperation to gain short-term political points. 

Local governments will waste millions of dollars and years of 

effort working for mutual benefit that the Department of the 

Interior will arbitrarily rescind. Better to just start suing for what 

you need and let the courts decide. 

This is truly government at its worst. 

Finally, Mr. Chairman, there has been a lot of misinformation on 

this issue, and I call upon the media reporting this hearing to 

thoroughly read the expert testimonies of the witnesses today. 

Responsible journalism demands that they do their homework 

and recognize that the decision being repealed for political capital 

with fringe environmentalists comes at the price of real conservation, real benefit to the various endangered species, and does 
9 

nothing other than delay much-needed transportation while costing 

the taxpayers millions of dollars in unnecessary delays and legal 

fees, which seems to be their point. 

I express my appreciation to the Utah Congressional Delegation 

for your continued support on this issue and for convening this 

hearing today. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Snow follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF ADAM SNOW, WASHINGTON COUNTY COMMISSIONER

Good afternoon, Chairman Curtis, Rep. Maloy, Rep. Moore, and members of the 

subcommittee. On behalf of my colleagues at the Washington County Commission, 

Victor Iverson and Gil Almquist, we welcome you to our county. Let me tell you how 

Southern Utah came to be called Dixie. Quoting from the Washington County 

Historical Society, ‘‘By the mid-1850s, the reality of civil war hung over the United 

States. Brigham Young asked the Indian Missionaries in southern Utah to see if 

cotton could be grown there. When they reported in the affirmative, President 

Young immediately made plans to colonize the Virgin River Basin.’’ My 3rd great 

grandfather, Erastus Snow, led the company of families called to the Dixie Cotton 

Mission, and the region was dubbed ‘‘Dixie’’ because of the cotton raised here and 

the location in the southern end of the state. It was a harsh and unforgiving land, 

but thanks to their endurance and perseverance, forward thinking, and hard work, 

they overcame the challenges and developed this incredible place we now call home. 

Thank you for inviting me to testify on important ways that decisions made by 

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

directly impact our community. My family has lived in Washington County for seven 

generations, and I have spent much of my professional and free time serving this 

community. As former staff to Congressman Stewart and now as a county commissioner, I know how vital three things are: (1) smart planning and growth, (2) 

protecting our community, including its environment, and (3) that backroom deals 

and outcome-driven decisions have no place in federal land management decisions. 

Unfortunately, our smart growth and conservation actions are directly threatened 

by the recent actions of the Biden Administration. 

Smart Growth and Cooperation 

We are the poster child of responsible growth. We greatly appreciate that you are 

holding this field hearing. I invite you to get out and notice our growth first-hand. 

Drive through the new homes in Green Springs and notice the excellent desert landscaping. Visit Sun River and see how, for decades, we have been building large 

communities with small houses and yards where people thrive because of the community resources. Visit Desert Color—the largest planned community west of the 

Mississippi River—and witness how we blend high, medium, and low-density 

housing into a single subdivision, which ensures socio-economic diversity and helps 

reduce crime. Lastly, I hope each of you travels along Tabernacle Street in St. 

George and notice new projects that have commercial businesses on the ground floor 

and several stories of residential housing above. 

We are flourishing as a community and are following innovative growth principles. This is largely due to our responsible development community, our great city 

councils, and our city plans. Over a decade ago, our cities and the county got 

together to develop comprehensive planning principles that allow our continued population growth while recognizing that we live in a desert and water is scarce. We 

are now enjoying the benefits of that planning, and we are also building on it with 

a massive water reuse program you will hear about later. That strategic and responsible planning has allowed this community to be one of the fastest growing in the 

nation for most of the last 20 years. Our rapid growth comes internally from children and grandchildren and, more recently, from those who choose to move from out 

of state to St. George for all this community offers. We have welcomed everyone and 

are working hard to provide the needed infrastructure to accommodate this challenge. Some who have moved here, especially during and since the pandemic, are 

political refugees from California and other blue states where liberal policies produced unlivable communities with high taxes, rampant crime, poor air quality, and 

gridlocked highways. Unfortunately, through the actions of the BLM and FWS, the 

Biden Administration seems to want to bring some of these same conditions to 

Washington County. 
10 

BLM’s Likely Harm 

Unfortunately, the likely action by BLM to rescind the Northern Corridor rightof-way right before the presidential election will harm our community by increasing 

traffic congestion, lowering air quality, and imposing congestion impacts on underserved neighborhoods. After marching forward with their Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) last year, BLM only recently requested updated 

information on these topics. 

The traffic modeling for the 2020 EIS was based on 2017 data. The BLM does 

not even have a traffic or any other type of engineer on staff working on this project. 

That may be normal for BLM, but it is inexcusable that their SEIS contractor also 

does not have a single engineer on the team! They did not have data on our COVID 

population boom from people fleeing locked-down states. Luckily, our local traffic 

planners asked the BLM if they were gathering this information and offered to 

provide it. So, new traffic modeling is being completed and should be done in June. 

However, taking the time to actually gather traffic data for a decision about the 

best location of a roadway does not fit with the Biden Administration’s election-year 

timeframe. So, the BLM plans to release its draft SEIS for public review and comment before it has even received, let alone analyzed, that data. This is just wrong! 

BLM should be transparent with the public by providing a full analysis of each 

alternative using up-to-date information. Instead, what BLM intends to do by not 

having the up-to-date information in the draft SEIS is reveal it later only by 

including it as an appendix in the final SEIS, which means the public will have no 

opportunity to see the analysis in the actual document or comment on it during a 

public comment period. 

BLM’s statutory mandate in the 2009 Omnibus Public Lands Management Act 

was to develop a transportation management plan through the Red Cliffs National 

Conservation Area in no more than 3 years. They have ignored this congressionally 

mandated deadline for more than 10 years with no plans in sight to even work on 

the transportation plan. Instead, they are prioritizing a newer politically driven 

deadline to eliminate the one route that provides the best solution that addresses 

our transportation challenges. Additionally, they do not intend to include any analysis of the harm to our air quality or impacted neighborhoods that will happen by 

eliminating the right-of-way. Vehicle engines perform best when running at 40–60 

miles per hour and emissions are the worst with stop-and-go traffic. Having to wait 

two or three lights to get through an intersection wastes fuel because the trip is 

taking longer, and the idling vehicles are polluting more than if they were moving 

efficiently. We do not yet have the current modeling, but without a Northern 

Corridor, the old modeling—which has slower population projections than the reality 

reflected in the new data—showed that if the right-of-way is rescinded, travel time 

to get from Sunset Boulevard to Exit 13 on Interstate 15 will increase from 14 

minutes of travel time (in 2019) using one of three different routes to anywhere 

from 24 to 40 minutes of travel time. (See 2020 FEIS Appendix I, Air Quality Report 

on page 22) 

Additionally, BLM does not intend to do an updated air quality report before 

deciding whether to rescind the right-of-way. Given the ‘‘high priority’’ the Biden 

Administration has placed on studying air quality in every EIS, it is strange that 

they will likely decide to harm our air quality, and perhaps, just maybe, that is why 

they are not gathering additional information on this impact. This is merely one 

more violation of processes mandated by NEPA to achieve a political outcome. 

The Biden Administration talks a lot about environmental justice to reverse 

federal impacts on specific underserved neighborhoods that have historically been 

located next to freeways and train tracks. These neighborhoods have higher concentrations of carbon dioxide and become concentrated heat domes. The BLM’s SEIS 

process will result in an environmental injustice because it will force more and more 

traffic into the increasingly congested urban core of St. George, where the lower 

income and workforce housing is located, causing more air quality impacts and 

transportation backups. 

This is Federal Decision-Making at its Worst 

Given my extensive professional experience with land management in the West 

over the past decade, I can expertly declare that this is the most predetermined, 

outcome-driven environmental review I have ever seen! With the prior administration, we went through a years-long public process, did all of the proper analysis, and 

achieved the best result for our community. In stark contrast, this Administration 

cut a sue-and-settle, back-room deal with fringe environmental groups that included 

a cash payoff and a commitment to get this done by election time regardless of how 

many corners would have to be cut. Now, they are going through a predetermined 
11 

‘‘sham’’ process that ignores their own policies of stakeholder participation, climate 

impact analysis, and environmental justice impacts. The political appointees in 

Washington, D.C., know precisely their end outcome. Regardless of the environmental consequences, they are going to do what they need to secure the political 

support of fringe environmental groups who do not represent or speak for the values 

of this community. These fringe groups think that if they can stop this roadway, 

they can help prevent growth here in Washington County. Ironically, most of them 

also just moved here themselves. 

When BLM rescinds the Northern Corridor right-of-way, not only will it become 

harder and harder to travel east to west and vice versa across our county, it will 

be a massive loss for our recreation community because then the Fish and Wildlife 

Service is obligated to authorize the take of desert tortoises on the non-federal lands 

in Zone 6—which means that eventually, those popular trails and climbing areas 

will in all likelihood be turned into housing. It will be a loss for 350–500 Mohave 

desert tortoises and all of the potential progeny that could have lived long lives in 

Zone 6 as their habitat is permanently lost to development. It will be a loss for our 

partnerships with federal agencies. We have worked openly and in good faith for 

decades with BLM and the Fish and Wildlife Service. This has produced remarkable 

outcomes for the community and the species. We cannot, however, continue to do 

that if they are going to extract millions of dollars from us to recover the tortoise 

and then rescind the permit that we were paying for. This is government at its 

worst. The original permit was a good faith compromise that allowed all stakeholders to join in a mutually beneficial partnership between federal, state, local, and 

private entities. All stakeholders could proudly declare a victory on conservation, 

environment, recreation, development, and transportation. In this back-room, closeddoor, exclusive deal, the federal government is violating federal law not for the 

benefit of the tortoise, the environment, recreation, transportation, or federal 

partnerships. It is only for the benefit of political points to their fringe supporters. 

I wish to express my appreciation to the Utah Congressional delegation for their 

continued support on these issues. Thank you for convening this hearing today. 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you, Commissioner Snow. 

I now recognize the Honorable Eric Clarke, attorney for 

Washington County, for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE ERIC CLARKE, COUNTY 

ATTORNEY, WASHINGTON COUNTY, ST. GEORGE, UTAH 

Mr. CLARKE. Distinguished members of the Committee, thank 

you for this opportunity. 

I have spent much of the last 10 years working on the issues 

before the Committee today. 

In our county, we strive to preserve our amazing land, protect atrisk plants and animal species, manage our rapid population 

growth, and welcome 8 to 10 million annual visitors. 

Unfortunately, the impending cancellation of the Northern 

Corridor Right-of-Way will increase traffic congestion, harm our 

area’s desert tortoise population, open a popular recreation area to 

development, and worsen our air quality. 

Twenty years ago, as the Congresswoman mentioned, our local 

leaders began working with Congress, conservation groups, and 

others to protect open space without hindering water development, 

utility access, or approval of the Northern Corridor. 

Those efforts resulted in the Washington County Growth and 

Conservation Act passed as part of an omnibus bill in 2009. 

On the conservation side, the Act designated over 250,000 acres 

of wilderness, classified the Virgin River as wild and scenic, and 

established two national conservation areas, or NCAs, protecting 

an additional 100,000 acres. 
12 

On the growth side, the Act affirmatively allowed maintenance 

and development of utility and water systems in the Red Cliffs 

NCA. 

Additionally, BLM was required to adopt the travel management 

plan, containing one or more Northern Corridor options by 2012. 

BLM has fully implemented all of the conservation measures of 

the Act while largely ignoring the growth measures. 

On utility and water access in the Red Cliffs NCA, in 2016, the 

efforts of this Committee, and then Deputy County Attorney 

Celeste Maloy, played a major role in ensuring BLM’s initial and 

restrictive proposals were not implemented. 

However, BLM has still not adopted a travel management plan. 

Even worse, prior to 2017, it openly opposed the Northern Corridor. 

So, our county joins state, local, and Federal partners to tackle 

the issue. 

While the county had no biological mitigation obligations, our 

team of partners built a conservation package that obviously offsets 

the negative impacts from constructing the road. This included 

adding a new zone to the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve and additional 

mitigation in the area around the Northern Corridor. 

The new zone, Zone 6, contains nearly 7,000 acres. Roughly half 

is BLM-managed land, and most of the rest is Utah school trust 

land. 

Zone 6 has a large and healthy desert tortoise population and is 

used heavily by mountain bikers and climbers, with the Bearclaw 

Poppy Trail alone having over 1 million riders annually. 

If we compare the desert tortoise habitat lost to the Northern 

Corridor to what is gained by Zone 6, we added 12 acres of habitat 

for each acre impacted, again, 12 to 1. 

If instead we compare actual tortoises, Zone 6 protects between 

500 and 1,000 tortoises, and 40 to 50 would be impacted by the 

road. 

We also committed to improve the habitat in the Red Cliffs NCA 

by adding tortoise crossing culverts underneath the Cottonwood 

Road that is currently an impassable barrier that cuts Zone 3 of 

the reserve in half. 

The proposed benefits to the tortoise far outweigh harms caused 

by the 41⁄2-mile-long Northern Corridor. 

But in order to prevent a roadway expressly allowed by the law, 

the Biden administration is moving forward to remove protections 

on thousands of acres of occupied desert tortoise habitat. It is going 

to open up over 3,400 acres in Zone 6 to development. 

It is mind-blowing that people are willing to sacrifice so much 

habitat in order to prevent a congressionally authorized road. That 

decision will not only harm conservation efforts, it is burning 

bridges built by decades of working together in good faith. 

Our county has spent over $6 million to fulfill our Northern 

Corridor commitment since January 2021. Federal agencies have 

required us to continue with these activities for years as they negotiated behind closed doors with environmental groups how to keep 

the benefits of our actions and cancel the Northern Corridor. 

We have fulfilled our part of the bargain, but they are walking 

away from theirs. 
13 

Thank you for your support and assistance. We have made 

significant progress on these issues over the last 10 years. I am 

confident that with the facts on our side and the broad support we 

receive from our local, state, and Federal partners, we can and will 

fix this issue and continue appropriately balancing growth and 

conservation in our community. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Clarke follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF ERIC CLARKE, WASHINGTON COUNTY ATTORNEY

Mr. Chairman Curtis, Representatives Maloy and Moore, and other distinguished 

members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to address you today. I 

have worked in the Washington County Attorney’s Office for thirteen years and 

served as the County Attorney since 2020. I spent much of the last nine years 

working on issues regarding the county’s Incidental Take Permit and related 

Habitat Conservation Plan for the federally protected Mojave desert tortoise and the 

planned Northern Corridor that will cross the southern portion of the Red Cliffs 

National Conservation Area. Unfortunately, in an election year the Biden Administration is moving at a reckless pace to undo our work. Their actions will increase 

traffic congestion, significantly harm our area’s Mojave desert tortoise population, 

make popular recreation areas on public lands immediately subject to development, 

and worsen our air quality. It is an example of politically-driven decisions leading 

to harmful results. 

Washington County Background 

We are a public lands county, with the federal government managing over 75% 

of our county. Of our 1.5 million acres, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

manages 41%, the U.S. Forest Service manages 25%, and the National Parks 

Service manages 9%. Our county’s uniquely beautiful landscape is due to the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Mojave Desert, and Great Basin landforms. Our vistas, 

warm climate, and friendly community make Washington County an ideal place to 

live, and we continue to experience rapid population growth. In 1960 we had 10,000 

residents. Today we have 200,000. To put that in perspective, our population has 

at least doubled every twenty years since 1960. Tourism is also an important part 

of our economy, and we estimate that our area receives between eight and ten 

million visitors annually. 

In addition to being an attractive place for people, our unique landscape is also 

home to 15 federally protected plant and animal species. Our community leaders 

work diligently to ensure our population growth and outdoor recreation occurs in 

ways that preserves our local environment. Our open space and beautiful views are 

extremely important to residents and visitors. 

2008 Washington County Growth and Conservation Act 

We have worked diligently to preserve open space in our area. Twenty years ago, 

Governor Olene Walker encouraged our local leaders to work with Congress, conservation groups, and others to protect significant swaths of open space in our 

county while ensuring those protections would not impede water development, 

utility access, or our transportation needs. Those efforts resulted in the Washington 

County Growth and Conservation Act, which was passed as part of the 2009 

Omnibus Public Lands Management Act (Public Law 111-11). That Act designated 

16 wilderness areas, totaling over 250,000 acres. It designated 165 miles of the 

Virgin River and its tributaries in our county as a Wild and Scenic River. Lastly, 

the Act established two national conservation areas protecting, to a lesser degree 

than wilderness, an additional 100,000 acres. This NCA acreage was expected to 

grow significantly when BLM fulfilled its commitment to acquire the privately held 

and school trust lands inside the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area (Red Cliffs 

NCA) boundary. The Act even designated that funds from BLM selling lands that 

had been listed for disposal years earlier would go towards acquiring the NCA 

inholdings. Truly, the ‘‘conservation’’ side of the Growth and Conservation Act was 

significant. 

On the ‘‘growth’’ side, local and state land-use planners were given assurance that 

the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area’s creation would not unduly hinder 

running utilities across or accessing water that would be necessary for future population growth. This was important because the NCA’s southern and eastern boundary was adjacent to existing or planned developments, and its western boundary 
14 

abuts the Shivwits Band of Paiutes Reservation. So to some degree, the NCA land 

must be utilized for the movement of water, utilities, and traffic. 

The Act also gave BLM three years to develop a comprehensive travel management plan that would ensure appropriate access to all of the BLM managed land 

in the county. The contents of the final plan for BLM managed lands were to 

include one or more options for the construction of the Northern Corridor. As you 

can see in the map prepared for this testimony, the Red Cliffs NCA boundary dips 

south near the historic downtown of St. George City (See Exhibit A). Traffic planners have identified the need for a northern bypass road since the mid-1980s, and 

that is why it was included in the Act. 

BLM’s Failure to Follow the Law 

Inexplicably, the BLM has fully implemented all of the conservation measures of 

the Act while largely ignoring the growth measures. 

Utility and Water Access. This Committee held a field hearing in St. George City 

several years ago to address utility and water access in the Red Cliffs NCA. The 

draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the Red Cliffs NCA inappropriately 

restricted utility and water access. Pressure from the committee combined with 

excellent work of then Deputy County Attorney Celeste Maloy resulted in most of 

these concerns being resolved before the finalization of the RMP. 

Travel Management. Around 2014, the local BLM field office began working with 

the County on the required travel management plan. For six months county and 

BLM planners identified dispersed campsites, overlooks, and other destinations 

throughout the county. The draft plan was well written, and the county was largely 

supportive of BLM’s preferred alternative. However, the plan was never released for 

public comment or adopted. It has sat on a shelf in the BLM office for ten years. 

We have even heard rumors that BLM plans to abandon the draft plan that was 

written with the 2009 Act in mind and instead craft a more restrictive 

transportation plan. 

Northern Corridor. BLM’s most egregious action was its open opposition to the 

Northern Corridor. This was demonstrated by the denial of an initial application for 

the roadway—which was overturned by the Department of Interior Board of Land 

Appeals, and the refusal to include a corridor in the Red Cliffs NCA RMP that 

would meet our area’s traffic needs. 

Granting a Right-of-Way 

In order to directly address the Northern Corridor issue, in 2017, our county 

teamed up with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the State of Utah, the state’s 

school trust lands administrators, local transportation planners and cities, and even 

the BLM. While our position remains that no additional biological mitigation should 

be necessary because the roadway was part of the bargain struck in the 2009 Act, 

we acknowledge there are legitimate concerns about the road’s impacts on the Red 

Cliff’s Desert Reserve, which is the basis for the county’s Mojave desert tortoise incidental take permit. We also saw an opportunity to protect as open space the heavily 

recreated area shown as Zone 6 in the map before you (See Exhibit A). So, from 

2017 to 2021, the BLM and Fish and Wildlife Service jointly completed an environmental impact statement that analyzed (1) an application from Utah for the 

Northern Corridor Right-of-Way and (2) a twenty-five-year renewal of the County’s 

desert tortoise incidental take permit. The ITP renewal process included amending 

the County’s Habitat Conservation Plan so that the plan addressed commitments 

from the County, BLM, school trust lands administration, and others that would 

only be triggered if the Northern Corridor were approved. The most important 

aspect of those commitments was expanding The Red Cliffs Desert Reserve to 

include Zone 6. 

Zone 6 contains 6,813 acres, half of which is BLM managed land. One-third of 

Zone 6 is part of the Red Bluff Area of Critical Environmental Concern which was 

already managed for conservation of the protected dwarf bear-poppy plant but not 

for the Mojave desert tortoise. Nearly half of Zone 6 is owned by Utah school trust 

lands administration, and the remaining acres are owned by private property 

owners or local governments. The area has a large and healthy desert tortoise population. It is also heavily recreated. Popular trails include Bearclaw Poppy and Zen. 

Rock climbing areas include Green Valley Gap and Moe’s Valley. To put in perspective how popular the area is, trail counters show that over 100,000 mountain bike 

rides occur annually on Bearclaw Poppy Trail alone. 

In order to ensure that all impacts to the desert tortoise from the construction 

of the Northern Corridor would be fully offset, the county and its partners proposed 

that all 6,813 acres in Zone 6 be managed for the benefit of the tortoise, that the 
15 

prior development authorization of 3,341 acres of non-federally managed lands be 

done away, and that tortoise culverts be strategically placed under Cottonwood Road 

in the portion of the Red Cliffs NCA near the Northern Corridor. In acres this 

created a 12:1 gain to loss ratio; in actual tortoises that would be disturbed, the 

ratio was 8:1 (but with new information we believe it is closer to 10:1), and in fragmentation of tortoise habitat the ratio is also 8:1. (See appendix G, Determining 

Fully Offset for the Northern Corridor of the 2020 Amended and Restated 

Washington County Habitat Conservation Plan.) No one can reasonably refute that 

the proposed benefits to the tortoise recovery efforts far outweigh the harms caused 

by the construction and ongoing use of the four and half mile-long Northern 

Corridor. 

It is shocking that in order to prevent the construction of a roadway expressly 

allowed by law, President Biden’s Department of Interior is going to remove protections on thousands of acres of occupied desert tortoise habitat! At most, fifty 

tortoises will be temporarily removed from the right-of-way and have their movements impeded until the road is finished and they can cross under its bridges or 

culverts. But at least 350 tortoises will be relocated out of Zone 6 and into the Red 

Cliffs NCA—a significant distance where they will lose access to all of their prior 

burrows—when the trust lands and private property in Zone 6 are developed. 

Breaching Trust 

In addition to the horrible biological path the Biden Department of Interior is 

taking, they are also burning the bridges built by decades of working together in 

good faith. Since the Northern Corridor Right-of-Way was issued in January 2021, 

our county has been obligated to fulfill many commitments in connection with the 

road’s approval. We have spent over $6 million! We have closed down areas to OHV 

use with fencing, signage, and regular law enforcement presence. We purchased 

enough acres of land to offset the loss of acres from the road at a 3:1 ratio. We purchased grazing permits to be retired. We built a public outreach center and educated 

the public about our area’s sensitive animals and plants daily. We have implemented tortoise conscious development restrictions for utilities crossing Zone 6. And 

we have significantly cleaned up and reduced the amount of trash dumping that had 

occurred in the area for decades. We fulfilled our part of the bargain. 

But neither the BLM nor the Fish and Wildlife Service ever indicated that we 

should hold off on these activities or that our obligations were being put on hold 

while they negotiated for years with environmental groups. It is clear they intend 

to eliminate the corridor and not compensate the county in any way for the taxpayer 

dollars we spent under our Northern Corridor obligation. It is unclear how we can 

work with these agencies in the future if they are going to go back on their 

commitments and keep the full benefit of our work and resources. 

Conclusion 

We are very grateful for the constant support and assistance of the Utah 

Congressional delegation and their staff. We have made significant progress on 

these issues over the last ten years. While we will likely suffer a setback this year 

due to President Biden’s reelection-geared decisions, I am confident that with the 

facts on our side and the broad support we receive from our local, state, and federal 

partners, we will get this fixed and continue to appropriately balance growth and 

conservation in our community. Thank you for holding this important hearing today. 
16 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you, Mr. Clarke. 

I would now like to recognize the Executive Director for the Utah 

Department of Transportation. 

Carlos, you have 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF CARLOS BRACERAS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

UTAH DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, TAYLORSVILLE, 

UTAH 

Mr. BRACERAS. Chairman Curtis, distinguished members of the 

Federal Land Committee, and members of Utah’s Delegation, my 

name is Carlos Braceras, Executive Director of the Utah 

Department of Transportation. 

Thank you for coming to the great state of Utah for the opportunity to testify regarding the urgently needed Northern Corridor. 

On behalf of Utah, I want to express my gratitude to the Members 

of the Utah Delegation for bringing this issue forward. 

I will share a little bit of background, some of which you have 

heard, as to why we are having this conversation. 

The St. George metropolitan area is one of the fastest-growing 

areas in Utah and in the United States. According to the U.S. 

Census Bureau, in the past 35 years, St. George area has grown 

by over 400 percent. During the period from 2020 to 2023, it grew 

an estimated 12 percent. 

In anticipation of this growth, long-term transportation plans 

identified the need for a northern transportation corridor as far 

back as the mid-1980s. 

It is not hard to see why the Northern Corridor is fundamental 

to a successful transportation system that supports the social, 
17 

physical, and economic well-being of communities in the St. George 

metropolitan area. 

In fact, Congress recognized how important this corridor is when 

it established the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area as part of 

the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009. 

When establishing the conservation area, Congress also directed 

the BLM to develop a comprehensive travel transportation management plan, and in doing so, to identify one or more alternatives for 

a northern transportation route in Washington County. 

This was to be done within 3 years of passage of OPLMA, and 

done in consultation with state, tribal, and local governments. 

Because UDOT recognized the timeliness and importance of 

these decisions, we, along with the local governments, began identifying a route that would be both compliant with OPLMA directives 

and feasible from an engineering perspective. 

In doing so, we solicited input from the BLM, the U.S. Forest 

Service, and other Federal agencies. 

Due to the input that they provided, we actually changed the 

alignment that we were proposing, one that actually performed 

best from an operational perspective, to one that, according to the 

agencies, would be better for the desert tortoise. 

Additionally, we agreed to help expand the Habitat Conservation 

Plan for the desert tortoise by putting thousands of otherwise 

unprotected state lands into conservation. 

Despite all these efforts, 9 years later, 6 years after the congressional deadline, BLM had still not implemented the required travel 

management plan. So, in 2018, UDOT applied for a right-of-way 

within the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area which compelled 

BLM to act upon the directives of Congress. 

BLM was forced to initiate an EIS process to analyze the effects 

of granting a right-of-way to UDOT and amend their resource management plan. The result was a record of decision that granted 

UDOT a right-of-way in early 2021. 

Today, those same Federal agencies have insinuated that the 

Northern Corridor was an idea hastily hatched during the Trump 

administration and decided in its waning days. That could not be 

further from the truth. 

They also put forward the troubling narrative that it is legitimate and normal to use a Supplemental Environmental Impact 

Statement process that is geared towards a new alignment that 

terminates UDOT’s right-of-way, has an abbreviated timeline 

determined by the terms of the settlement agreement that UDOT 

was not even allowed to be party to, and ignores NEPA principles 

and best practices. 

In conclusion, I ask that you consider the following. 

The Northern Corridor has been carefully planned for decades, 

because the success of Washington County’s transportation system 

is dependent upon a functioning northern county corridor. 

If the UDOT right-of-way were to no longer exist, the additional 

conservation areas for the desert tortoise would also cease to exist. 

And lastly, the Federal Government has a duty to comply with 

OPLMA, as well as a duty to carry out NEPA according to regulations and procedures. The Federal Government is not above its own 

law. 
18 

Thank you for your time, and I am pleased to answer any 

questions that the Members may have. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Braceras follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF CARLOS BRACERAS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UTAH

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Introduction 

Chairman, Ranking Member, Vice Chair, and distinguished members of the 

Federal Lands Subcommittee. My name is Carlos Braceras, and I am the Executive 

Director of the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT). Speaking on behalf of 

the Utah Department of Transportation, we are very grateful to the members of the 

Utah Delegation for providing this opportunity to discuss the Northern Corridor 

project. Thank you for coming to the great state of Utah and for allowing me the 

opportunity to testify regarding the importance of the vital and necessary Northern 

Corridor transportation route in Washington County and the mandate that 

Congress set forth nearly 15 years ago directing the Bureau of Land Management 

(BLM) to identify a northern transportation alignment on lands managed by the 

BLM, which primarily consist of the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area. As you 

know, Washington County is an area within the State of Utah that is largely 

surrounded and landlocked by federal public lands, so we are acutely aware of the 

challenge this issue poses as we try to conduct transportation planning for our 

communities. 

UDOT is the designated state agency responsible for transportation in the State 

of Utah. UDOT’s mission is to enhance the quality of life for Utahns through transportation. We do this by optimizing mobility, connecting communities, promoting a 

strong economy, and encouraging good health. We take these responsibilities 

seriously and understand the potential that each transportation project has to benefit and improve communities and the environment. Accordingly, UDOT expends 

significant time, energy, and effort to collaboratively work with local governments, 

including rural and metropolitan planning organizations, to understand and address 

local and regional transportation needs, perspectives, and concerns. As a state entity 

with delegated NEPA authority from the Federal Highway Administration, UDOT 

is keenly aware of the importance that the administrative and NEPA process play 

in the evaluation and consideration of any proposed project and land management 

decisions. 

As a state governmental entity, we fastidiously abide by all laws and regulations 

relevant to our work, and we see it as equally important for the federal government 

to be held to the same standard. In this case, the federal government has a duty 

to comply with the Congressional directive under the Omnibus Public Lands 

Management Act, Pub. L. No. 111011, 123 Stat. 991, 1081-83 (2009) (OPLMA) as 

well as a duty to objectively carry out its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

review in accordance with applicable regulation and procedure. 

Northern Corridor 

The long-planned ‘‘Northern Corridor’’ is a proposed transportation corridor 

referred to by various names that connects the communities of Ivins, Santa Clara, 

and the western urbanized area of St. George to the west and Washington and 

Hurricane to the east between State Route 18 and Interstate 15. Connecting these 

communities requires crossing federal public lands. Because of the importance of 

this corridor, the northern transportation route connecting these endpoints has been 

on state or local transportation plans for more than 30 years. Since 2017, significant 

planning for development of this corridor has been undertaken as a result of current 

demand and forecasted population growth within Washington County. The Northern 

Corridor is a necessary highway infrastructure project to accommodate and support 

the increased growth and travel demands and reduce impacts to aging transportation infrastructure that was not designed for the capacity we now anticipate and 

the growing population now projected for Washington County. 

Over the years, UDOT has prepared or funded, by itself or with other state and 

local entities, at least five different studies of alignments for the corridor, including 

the following: 

• Red Hills Parkway State Route 18 (Bluff Street) to Industrial Road 

Development Assessment (2009 UDOT); 

• Washington Parkway Cost/Benefit Study (Horrocks Engineers, 2011); 
19 

• Washington Parkway Study: Integration of East-West Transportation Needs 

with Conservation Objectives for Desert Tortoise in Washington County, Utah 

(Jacobs and Logan Simpson 2012); 

• Washington County General Plan (amended 2012); and 

• Dixie Metropolitan Planning Organization (DMPO) Regional Transportation 

Plan. 

Notably, Washington County has grown from a community of 13,669 in 1970 to 

its current population of approximately 189,500 people. According to the U.S. 

Census Bureau, in the past 35 years, the St. George area has grown by more than 

400 percent. Based on this explosive growth, the existing transportation network 

between S.R. 18 and I-15 is not adequate to meet future (2050) east-west travel 

demand in the northeastern and northwestern areas of St. George. A northern 

transportation route for the rapidly growing area is necessary to reduce traffic congestion, substantial delays and idling, which is also expected to improve air quality. 

In addition to improving east-west mobility on arterial and interstate roadways, the 

highway is necessary to reduce traffic volumes on key corridors such as Bluff Street, 

Red Hills Parkway, and St. George Boulevard that are currently congested and are 

expected to experience worse congestion in the future as the Washington County 

population grows and the associated east-west travel demand increases. 

The Northern Corridor will fulfill a necessary transportation need identified 

decades ago that UDOT has planned for, studied, and invested millions of dollars 

to develop. It has done so working in close cooperation with the DMPO (the agency 

responsible for regional transportation planning in Washington County); 

Washington County; the City of St. George; Washington City; the City of Ivins; the 

City of Santa Clara; the City of Hurricane; and other communities in the St. George 

and Hurricane urbanized area. 

Omnibus Public Lands Management Act (OPLMA) 

Nearly 15 years ago, in creating the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, 

Congress, state and local officials, and conservation groups recognized the challenges in balancing management and conservation values with local and regional 

growth of the surrounding community in Washington County. To meet this challenge, Congress reached a compromise in enacting OPLMA in 2009 with twin aims 

focused on balancing conservation with regional transportation needs based on 

growing community needs. In this legislation Congress recognized the need for a 

northern corridor transportation route over federal public lands because the only 

BLM-managed lands north of the City of St. George in Washington County were in 

the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area as shown on the maps in Attachment A, 

which were included in the statute. 

In recognition of this circumstance, in enacting OPLMA, Congress expressly 

directed the Secretary of the Interior to meet the following mandates: 

1. OPLMA Section 1974 Mandate: manage the National Conservation Area in a 

manner that conserves, protects, and enhances (1) the resources the ecological, scenic, wildlife, recreational, cultural, historical, natural, educational, and 

scientific resources of the National Conservation Area for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations; and (2) to protect each species that 

is located in the National Conservation Area and listed as a threatened or 

endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. OPLMA § 1974(e); and 

2. OPLMA Section 1977 Mandate: within three years of its passage (2012), 

develop a comprehensive travel management plan to provide the public a 

marked network of roads and trails with signs and maps over lands managed 

by the BLM and lands under management by the U.S. Forest Service in 

Washington County, in consultation with appropriate Federal agencies and 

State, tribal, and local governmental entities. Congress further directed that 

the travel management plan should: 

• promote enhanced recreation and general access opportunities; 

• help reduce in the County growing conflicts arising from interactions 

between motorized recreation and important resource values on public 

lands; 

• promote citizen-based opportunities for monitoring and stewardship of 

trails and trail system management; 

• support law enforcement officials in promoting compliance with offhighway vehicle laws and deterring abuses of public land; and 
20 

• identify 1 or more alternatives for a northern transportation route in the 

County. 

OPLMA §§ 1977(b). 

Despite the clear federal direction and Section 1977 mandate, it has been fifteen 

years since OPLMA was passed. We are nearly twelve years beyond the statutory 

deadline for BLM to identify a northern transportation route in cooperation with the 

affected state and local entities that require it, yet, the BLM has yet to seriously 

consider a comprehensive travel management plan. BLM’s actions over the last 

several years continue to undermine any measurable progress in meeting BLM’s 

Section 1977 obligations under OPLMA at best. At worst, BLM’s actions demonstrate noncompliance and disregard of the law and BLM’s statutory requirements. 

UDOT Right-of-Way 

Based on a combination of the directive under OPLMA, prior local and regional 

planning and needs, and current demand and forecasted population growth within 

the county, which will continue to outstrip the capacity of the transportation 

network, UDOT proactively submitted an application to the BLM for a right-of-way 

for a four-lane highway that includes a paved hike and bike path, and will be 4.5 

miles long, with 1.9 miles crossing federal lands in the Red Cliffs National 

Conservation Area as shown in purple below: 

After completing the NEPA process and consultation under Section 7 of the 

Endangered Species Act, on January 15, 2021, BLM issued a Record of Decision 

approving a right-of-way subject to specified mitigation measures. In issuing this 

decision, BLM determined that granting the right-of-way was consistent with the 

legislative instructions under both Sections 1974 and 1977 of OPLMA. 

UDOT Mitigation Commitments and Northern Corridor ‘‘Changed 

Circumstance’’ 

As you are aware, this area is also home to the Mojave Desert Tortoise. 

Washington County currently manages conservation of Mojave Desert Tortoise in 

the Upper Virgin River Recovery Unit and development on 12,264 acres of nonFederal lands in Washington County under an Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). 

In collaboration with BLM and other HCP partners, the HCP originally created the 

approximately 62,000 acres Red Cliffs Desert Reserve (Reserve) aimed to protect a 

significant block of desert tortoise habitat in Washington County. Currently, the 

Reserve is segmented into five management zones separated by topographical and 

human barriers. Reserve Zones 1, 2, and 3 are north of the cities of Ivins, St. 
21 

1The ‘‘HCP Partners’’ include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, BLM, UDNR, SITLA, 

Washington County, and Ivins City. 

George, and Washington and west of Interstate 15. Reserve Zones 4 and 5 are north 

of the city of Hurricane, south of Leeds, and east of I-15. 

In issuing the Northern Corridor right-of-way, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

determined that the project impacts would not appreciably affect either the survival 

or recovery of Mojave Desert Tortoise finding that the proposed UDOT mitigation 

measures would be more protective and beneficial to desert tortoise and the 

environment. 

As part of the proposed application and issuance of the Northern Corridor rightof-way and Washington County’s proposed application for renewal of its incidental 

take permit and amendment of its HCP, UDOT in collaboration with Washington 

County agreed to and coordinated mitigation measures targeted to offset impacts to 

the Mojave Desert Tortoise from the proposed highway which would be located in 

Reserve Zone 3. This included nearly 14 pages of mitigation measures, including 

specific Northern Corridor design features, including exclusionary tortoise fencing, 

shade structures, and passageways to provide effective mitigation against potential 

habitat fragmentation and connectivity issues for Mojave Desert Tortoise, and 

additional monitoring. 

Additionally, Washington County’s Amended HCP expressly included a Northern 

Corridor ‘‘changed circumstance’’ that addresses effects of the highway to the HCP 

conservation program if a right-of-way is issued. A significant part of the Northern 

Corridor changed circumstance in the Amended HCP is to establish, administer, and 

manage expansion of the Reserve to include a new Reserve Zone 6 of approximately 

6,813 acres (nearly an 11 percent expansion). This new Reserve Zone 6 would result 

in benefits and uplift to Mojave Desert Tortoise, and its habitat, including additional commitments by UDOT, BLM, and the State of Utah School and Institutional 

Trust Lands Administration (SITLA), and Utah Department of Natural Resources 

(UDNR), aimed at offsite habitat restoration after the 2020 wildfires, and acquisition of state and private lands, would further protect the subpopulation Mojave 

Desert Tortoise in the Upper Virgin River Recovery Unit such as: 

• Reserve Administration: The County will provide additional funding for up to 

three full time HCP support staff, including an Outreach Coordinator, Field 

Technician, and Administrative Assistant. 

• Reserve Land Acquisition: The County will fund the acquisition of approximately 450 acres of SITLA-owned lands within proposed Reserve Zone 6 prior 

to the start of construction of the Northern Corridor. 

• Reserve Fencing: The County will install fencing along the eastern parts of 

the Reserve Zone 6 boundary and along the Navajo Road corridor to prevent 

motorized access outside the road right-of-way; and other fencing to enhance 

protections for listed plant species within Reserve Zone 6. 

• Law Enforcement: The County will provide additional funding for Washington 

County Sheriff Deputy patrols within the Reserve. 

• Community Education and Outreach: The County will provide additional 

funding for education and outreach efforts that may include videos, advertising, handouts, community engagement, contractor training, and volunteer 

coordination. 

• Grazing Permit Acquisition and Retirement: The County and the HCP 

Partners 1 will coordinate with the holders of active grazing permits applicable to Reserve Zone 6 and negotiate the acquisition of such grazing permits 

from willing sellers. 

• Development Protocols: The County and the HCP Partners will subject the 

allowed uses of Reserve Zone 6 to the applicable provisions of the Development Protocols. The County will provide additional funds to support the application of Development Protocols associated with the proposed Reserve Zone 

6. 

• Recreation Management: The County, the BLM, and the other HCP Partners 

agree to reduce the total mileage of designated recreation access routes within 

Reserve Zone 6 to approximately 50 miles of primarily nonmotorized trails— 

a two-thirds reduction in the total mileage of existing trails. The County and 

the HCP Partners will amend the Public Use Plan to create a final trail plan 

that implements the targeted level of trail reduction within Reserve Zone 6. 

The County will act within its discretion to complete these Public Use Plan 
22 

amendments within the first 5 years after this Changed Circumstance is triggered. The County also commits to funding recreation management activities 

within Reserve Zone 6, such as the installation of signs, trail maintenance or 

enhancement, parking improvements, and similar actions. 

• Reserve Habitat and Fire Management: The County will provide additional 

funds to support the management of SITLA-owned lands in Reserve Zone 6 

and financial support for HCP Partners with long-term management responsibilities associated with the proposed Reserve Zone 6. 

• Monitoring and Adaptive Management Planning: The County and the HCP 

Partners will expand the biological monitoring program to include Reserve 

Zone 6. To support this expansion, the County will provide additional funding 

for baseline Reserve population monitoring and special topic monitoring for 

use by UDWR or another qualified contractor. 

• Retire Previously Authorized Reserve Zone 6 Take: Retire the previously 

authorized, but unutilized, incidental take associated with the 3,341 acres of 

non-federal lands within Reserve Zone 6. The retirement of previously 

authorized incidental take creates a conservation benefit separate from the 

uplift from the establishment and management of Reserve Zone 6. 

• Cottonwood Road Tortoise Passages: The County and the HCP Partners will 

provide technical assistance and funding to support the design, construction, 

maintenance, and/or monitoring of tortoise passages in Washington County, 

with an emphasis on creating connectivity across Cottonwood Road in Reserve 

Zone 3. 

The new Reserve Zone 6 would represent a large and contiguous block of habitat 

in Washington County outside the current Reserve that would protect the largest 

known sub-population of tortoises that would otherwise be subject to take under 

Washington County’s incidental take permit. However, with issuance of the 

Northern Corridor right-of-way, these lands would be permanently protected 

providing significant benefits to Mojave Desert Tortoise and their habitat. 

Federal Agency Post-Decisional Actions 

After the change in presidential administrations, however, the Project was 

litigated and BLM settled with the Project’s opponents (many of whom were organizations not based in Utah) rather than standing behind the agency’s decision. It has 

given no sign that it intends to fulfill the transportation-related mandates under 

OPLMA. [Moreover, BLM and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have unilaterally 

taken further action to undermine the issuance of the UDOT Northern Corridor 

right-of-way by (1) refusing to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement to complete 

Section 106 consultation under the National Historic Preservation Act for nearly 4 

years, which process BLM proposed and then declined to defend, and (2) voluntarily 

withdrawing and amending the supporting Biological Opinion issued to complete the 

Section 7 consultation process under the Endangered Species Act. Despite withdrawal of the Biological Opinion and pending reconsideration of the original rightof-way grant, BLM has continued to act as though the Northern Corridor ‘‘changed 

circumstance’’ has been triggered, pressuring state and local agencies to expend 

time, effort, and money toward implementing the mitigation required under the 

changed circumstance. Because such land use management changes were completed 

as part of a project level application and amendment, it is not proper nor within 

the province of BLM to change aspects of a project application for implementation; 

and notably, without input from the project proponent. To the extent BLM seeks to 

complete broad land use management planning for the area, federal statute and regulations expressly set forth the procedures and requirements to complete such an 

amendment, and BLM should be required to follow that process. 

In our experience, the local BLM office has historically engaged in a very positive 

manner with UDOT. But when it comes to this Project, BLM has declined to engage 

with the project proponents and stakeholders, including UDOT and the entities 

most affected by any decisions or further review under NEPA. Instead, it appears 

that BLM, at the highest levels, has selectively engaged with its preferred constituents in meetings, discussions, and agreements behind closed doors, then acted 

unilaterally to effectuate those backroom decisions. In such meetings, BLM has 

intentionally not provided UDOT a seat at the table and withheld information from 

UDOT. Those actions do not reflect the behavior of a good neighbor vis-a-vis 

adjacent landowners, nor a government that respects the sovereign interests of its 

state and municipal counterparts. Such actions are not reflective of good government, nor consistent with good land use management practices and procedures. 
23 

UDOT’s mission is to serve the interests of Utah residents, and as a result, the 

prejudice from delaying the road is not solely to UDOT but to those residents. To 

date, UDOT has expended over $8.5 million in the Northern Corridor project, of 

which $7 million was paid to support the BLM’s initial NEPA process to evaluate 

UDOT’s application for a right-of-way grant over federal public lands, and the other 

over $1.5 million was committed to design and engineering work required after the 

right-of-way was issued by BLM. 

Conclusion 

UDOT has expended considerable resources completing the environmental impact 

studies and navigating the federal approval processes, and it has committed millions 

of dollars to implementation of the Northern Corridor project. The Project was 

approved through that process in an effort to proactively encourage BLM to meet 

its OPLMA obligations. 

Our experience with the Northern Corridor demonstrates the Administration’s 

unfortunate tendency to act as though the federal agencies were the only landowner; 

to ignore important needs related to transportation planning; and to exclude state 

and local counterparts from planning processes that will accomplish the needs of 

those who actually live in the affected area. The delay and failure of the BLM to 

comply with and effectuate that Congressional mandate should not be the basis to 

thwart state and local efforts to meet and comply with those requirements and 

expectations. Postponement or outright prevention of the Northern Corridor project 

significantly increases the costs of providing the road’s intended benefits at the 

expense of Utah’s taxpayers. In addition to monetary costs, such delay imposes nonfiscal costs on UDOT and the Utah residents it serves by depriving them of the 

benefits of mobility and safety in their transportation system and inhibits 

implementation of local and regional transportation plans. 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you, Mr. Braceras. 

I think we are getting a little feedback, so all of us, let’s make 

sure we turn off our mics, and if you will speak directly into it, I 

think we will get better sound quality. 

I would like to now recognize Mr. Zach Renstrom, General 

Manager at the Washington County Water Conservation District, 

for 5 minutes. 

Mr. Renstrom, you are now recognized. 

STATEMENT OF ZACHARY RENSTROM, GENERAL MANAGER, 

WASHINGTON COUNTY WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT, 

ST. GEORGE, UTAH 

Mr. RENSTROM. Mr. Chairman, Representative Maloy, Representative Moore, we are so grateful to have you here in our wonderful 

county that we love so much. 

I am grateful to be here today and to share some of the great 

things that we are doing with water conservation down here and 

water in general, and just not share but actually brag what we 

have been doing down here because we are very proud of what we 

have done here. 

As has been mentioned multiple times before, we are one of the 

fastest growing communities in the United States, and we don’t see 

that slowing down at all. 

And as the individual that is tasked with making sure that our 

current residents have water and our future residents have water, 

you can just imagine the overwhelming burden that has been 

placed on the Water District going forward. 

To prepare for this, we have come up with what we call the 20- 

year plan where we basically outline how we are going to ensure 

that this community has water for the next 20 years. 
24 

Several aspects of it, and one part I would like to bring up is 

water conservation. We are making sure that the new homes and 

businesses that are being constructed today are the most waterefficient homes in the state of Utah, if not most of the western 

United States. 

Our businesses and retail institutions, they are also working 

with this. In fact, we were the first county in the state of Utah to 

ban or prohibit non-functioning grass at retail or industrial, those 

type of developments moving forward, so we are very proud of that 

also. 

We are also working with our existing residents. We are offering 

a grass rebate, where we actually go out and we pay residents to 

remove turf and install desert-friendly landscaping. 

The response to this was so overwhelming we actually had to go 

out and quickly hire additional staff to respond to that. 

And we are able to measure this water conservation that is going 

on, and if you look at the water-per-capita use, our numbers are 

decreasing faster than almost anywhere in the western United 

States at this time. 

Another aspect to that program is reuse. Currently, we have a 

small reuse, but we are going to expand that greatly. However, 

that comes at a huge cost, in the hundreds of millions, if not 

billions of dollars costs moving forward. 

The Water District also wants to be a very good partner in all 

these projects moving forward. 

In 2016, the BLM came to the Water District and requested the 

Water District go and purchase 90 acres of inholdings with the 

National Conservation Area. This is private land where an individual could go and develop it. They could go to a city, get a development permit, and bulldoze the area. 

The Water District took an active approach in working with the 

BLM. At the time, the BLM told us it would take 2 years to get 

that process completed. 

We are now in our 8th year and it is still not completed, and this 

is a massive problem because as projects get delayed, it costs time, 

both for the local and Federal Government. 

However, we are still working on that project. We hope to have 

that completed. And once it is completed, there will be 90 additional acres that currently could be developed that will be placed 

in Federal ownership that will permanently protect that area for 

the future for the desert tortoise. 

We are also working with the Federal Government in the salinity 

control program. Currently, the United States has a treaty with the 

country of Mexico to reduce the salinity in the Colorado River, and 

it has been a challenge. 

Currently we have a natural hot spring that produces over a 

thousand tons of salt that are placed into the Colorado River 

System, and we are working with the Bureau of Reclamation to 

come up with innovative ways how we could remove that salt and 

reduce the salinity in the Colorado River that would benefit both 

the United States and our treaty with Mexico. 

We also are actively working on the Virgin River program. This 

is a program where we protect all the species along the Virgin 

River Corridor and the Santa Clara Corridor where we work with 
25 

our Federal, state, and local governments to ensure that those 

species are protected. And since developing that program, our 

species are actually thriving. 

Why I bring up these projects is these are excellent examples, 

when you allow local control to get involved, how we can make 

things happen. Here in Washington County, we have a long history 

of good stewardship. We are very proud of the stewardship. We 

love this county, we love living here, and we love actually sharing 

it with others too. 

When we are not able to control our local destiny and the 

Federal Government removes that, bad things happen. And I think 

you have heard several people testify on that today, about what 

can happen when we lose that partnership. 

We are grateful for you being here today. We are committed to 

move forward and be good stewards of this area. But we 

desperately need the help of Congress. 

Right now with our Federal nexus, almost everything we do here 

in Washington County has some type of Federal nexus that 

requires us to go through the environmental review process. 

It takes years and years to accomplish the most basic, simple 

things. It costs millions of dollars and lots of time lost to both 

government employees and to our local economy. 

We are thankful for your time being here, and if you have any 

questions, I will be happy to answer them after my time. Thank 

you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Renstrom follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF ZACHARY RENSTROM, GENERAL MANAGER, WASHINGTON

COUNTY WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT

Mr. Chairman Curtis, Rep. Maloy, Rep. Moore, and other distinguished members 

of the Committee. I am grateful to have been invited to appear before you today 

to discuss the remarkable water management accomplishments of this desert community. As has been mentioned, Washington County is the fastest-growing County 

in America. In the last decade, our population has increased 37 percent and our per 

capita water use has decreased significantly. We are creating a more sustainable 

community through aggressive water conservation measures, reuse expansion, agricultural water optimization, and intelligent growth ordinances. Washington County 

is dependent on one, fully appropriated water supply—the Virgin River watershed, 

a tributary of the Colorado River that runs through Zion National Park. This water 

source has been developed and used by settlers since 1854. It now serves over 

200,000 residents and an estimated 8–10 million annual tourists. 

The Virgin River watershed is prone to excessive drought conditions and is insufficient to meet the demands of a population projected to more than double by 2060. 

We must conserve AND diversify. We have developed a 20-year plan that relies on 

new infrastructure, aggressive conservation, wastewater reuse, and optimization of 

agricultural water. 

Conservation 

The district has worked with Washington County and our municipal partners to 

adopt the most restrictive water use ordinances in Utah. Washington is the first 

county in the state to prohibit non-functional lawn in new commercial, industrial 

and institutional developments; require weather-based smart irrigation controllers; 

and, mandate golf course water budgets. Other measures include restricting lawn 

in new residential development, implementing lawn replacement incentives, and 

improving rate structures to penalize water waste. The community has responded 

well to these programs. Washington County represents 7% of Utah’s population, but 

we account for 34% of the grass that was replaced statewide in 2023. This is partly 

due to a clever public awareness campaign with messages like ‘‘Get your Saturday 

back’’ and ‘‘Get off your lazy grass.’’ Washington County has replaced enough grass 

to run a 12-inch wide strip of grass from the county administration building to 
26 

California’s border. Additional conservation will account for about 25% of the water 

needed to serve our community over the next 20 years. 

Regional Reuse System 

Construction is underway on a new regional reuse system that includes expanded 

treatment facilities, reservoirs, and pipelines to capture, treat and deliver treated 

wastewater for agricultural and irrigation purposes, freeing up potable water. Reuse 

will provide more than 50% of the anticipated water demand of our community over 

the next 20 years. 

Local Supply Optimization 

In addition to developing new storage, we are expanding well systems to maximize agricultural groundwater for future conversion to municipal development. We 

support efforts to improve system efficiencies, manage groundwater and meter 

water use. 

20-Year Water Supply Plan Summary 

The collective efforts of conservation, reuse and local supply optimization are anticipated to provide approximately 46,600 acre feet at a cost of well over $1 

billion. 

Red Cliffs National Conservation Area/Warner Valley Reservoir 

The Red Cliffs National Conservation Area (NCA) is an integral part of our watershed, with snowpack from the Pine Valley Mountain feeding groundwater basins 

inside the Conservation Area. In addition to directing BLM to identify a route for 

the northern corridor roadway through the NCA, the Washington County portion of 

the 2009 Omnibus Public Lands Management Act guaranteed our continued access 

to the historic wells in the groundwater basin at the foot of the mountain and 

within the NCA boundary. Since 2020, the Water District and the BLM have been 

working to complete a land exchange to protect 90 acres of private inholdings within 

the Conservation Area boundary. The exchange will involve the District purchasing 

the inholding and exchanging it to BLM for a potential reservoir site in the Warner 

Valley area. The land exchange will permanently protect desert tortoise habitat and 

result in more efficient management of land within the NCA boundary. It will also 

protect our watershed. The BLM, Water District, and Washington County, as 

administrator of the multi-species HCP that established the Reserve, entered into 

a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in December 2020 for this purpose and 

are working together to acquire the remaining privately-owned acreage through 

exchange and possible donation. The County is contributing funding towards the 

processing of the exchange, and the District has entered into an option agreement 

to acquire the non-Federal property acres needed for the exchange. 

Next Steps 

Longer-term planning is underway through a grant with the Bureau of Reclamation to evaluate how we can beneficially use water from the La Verkin Hot Springs, 

also known as Pah Tempe. According to the Bureau of Reclamation, the hot springs 

are the Colorado River’s second-highest source of salinity. The United States has a 

treaty obligation to reduce salinity in the water delivered to Mexico. As an aside, 

I want to thank all of you for introducing H.R. 7872 two weeks ago to extend the 

Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act, which authorizes the funding for the hot 

springs project. The hot springs are natural springs located on the Virgin River on 

the boundary between Hurricane and La Verkin that produce approximately 5,000 

gallons per minute, or more than seven million gallons daily, of 107-degree 

Fahrenheit water. The springs release an astounding 109,000 tons (6,813 semi-truck 

loads) of salt annually. The springs’ high salinity limits use and poses unique challenges to our regional and local water supply. The Water District is studying treatment options to improve the water quality for future use as a blended resource. 

High power costs and salt disposal pose our most significant challenges. We are also 

evaluating possible ways to harness solar power and monetize salt production 

through a myriad of potential uses. 

In the interim, the Water District has agreed with a national hot springs operator 

to create Zion Canyon Hot Springs. The $60 million resort will be located on 

elevated topography in La Verkin, offering guests picturesque views of the Virgin 

River canyon. 

Off Road Capital Partners and the founder of Iron Mountain Hot in Glenwood 

Springs, Colorado, are developing Zion Canyon Hot Springs and will manage the 

resort as a public recreational amenity. The District has entered into a long-term 

lease agreement with the developers for land and a portion of the water produced 
27 

by the hot springs. The developer broke ground in March and is scheduled to open 

in the fall of 2025. The 15-acre resort will feature 53 pools, including a large freshwater pool and whirlpool. Water from the springs will be used in the pools and 

returned to the Virgin River. 

Conclusion 

The Washington County Water Conservancy District is determined and committed 

to prepare for the future in this beautiful area. We have significant challenges with 

water resources, topography and endangered species. The public land nexus requires 

us to obtain federal permits on many of the District’s projects. These permits are 

unnecessary costly and time consuming both for the Federal Government and local 

governments. permits. Washington County’s history is one of coming together to 

solve complicated issues. We love this community and are honored to call it home. 

Thank you for your time. 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you, Mr. Renstrom. 

Finally, I would like to recognize Mr. Darcy Stewart, President 

and CEO of SunRiver St. George Development. 

Mr. Stewart, you have 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF DARCY STEWART, PRESIDENT AND CEO, 

SUNRIVER ST. GEORGE DEVELOPMENT, LLC, ST. GEORGE, 

UTAH 

Mr. STEWART. Thank you very much. I appreciate being here, 

appreciate the forum, appreciate what is trying to be accomplished. 

Again, my name is Darcy Stewart, and I have been a developer 

and a builder here in St. George since 1990. I have been involved 

with commercial projects, including hotels, office buildings, retail, 

and fuel stations. 

In terms of residential development, I have developed and built 

a large-scale master-planned community, including 2,600 homes, 

numerous community amenities, and an 18-hole golf course. 

I have worked closely with Washington County and local authorities to meet and exceed conservation standards. Long before these 
28 

conservation guidelines and restrictions existed, we have installed 

desert landscaping as a standard to homeowners and built an 

entire community of over 300 homes entirely of desert landscape or 

artificial turf, with only a small portion of grass on the community 

amenity. 

The community is still aesthetically beautiful and water wise. 

The Sun River community has become an example of water 

conservation in Washington County. 

I have also worked with the city of St. George, exchanged water 

rights for reuse water on our community golf course, again working 

with local authorities in a win-win effort. 

These are just a few examples of the ways we and other developers in the area are trying to work together with local authorities 

to be responsible to the environment, enhance the beauty of the 

area, and meet the growth demands that we have. 

Congestion and traffic are escalating. The need for the Red Hills 

Parkway to continue on and connect with Exit 13 on Interstate 15 

is critical and timely. 

With communities already approved and not yet on-line, the 

current infrastructure will not meet the demand. Denying regional 

belt roads like the Northern Corridor will not keep people from 

moving here but will reduce the quality of life and economic 

potential of the area. 

Red Hills Parkway was thoroughly planned. The existing part of 

the Red Hills Parkway was thoroughly planned and executed, 

preserving the surrounding beauty. The same planning and insight 

can be given to the proposed Northern Corridor. 

This road will not open any of our public lands to development. 

The adjacent public lands will remain untouched except for possible 

trailheads for public enjoyment with restrictions managed by the 

Red Cliffs Desert Reserve or the BLM. 

Ample migration corridors for the reserve wildlife under the road 

is another solution to an important concern. We too have a concern 

for the endangered species in the area. 

With the unique topography of Washington County, it is critical 

to provide solutions for transportation. The natural beauty, the 

strength of local communities and the state will continue to draw 

people for the same reasons that many of us live here in the area. 

Responsible planning is the solution, and for this reason, I 

support the proposed Northern Corridor. 

Thank you very much. I appreciate being here. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Stewart follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DARCY STEWART, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, FIELDHOUSE

My name is Darcy Stewart and I have been a developer and builder in St. George 

and Washington County since 1990. I have been involved with commercial projects, 

including hotels, office buildings, retail and fuel stations. In terms of residential 

development, I have developed a large-scale master planned community including 

2,600 homes, numerous community amenities, and an 18-hole golf course. 

I have worked closely with Washington County and local authorities to meet and 

exceed conservation standards. Long before these conservation guidelines and 

restrictions existed, we have installed desert landscaping as a standard to homeowners and built an entire community of over 300 homes entirely in desert landscaping or artificial turf with only a small portion of grass in a common amenity. 

The community is still aesthetically beautiful and water wise. This Sun River 

community has become an example of water conservation in Washington County. 
29 

We have also worked with the City of St. George exchanging water rights for 

reuse water on our community golf course. Again, working with local authorities in 

a win-win effort. 

These are just a few examples of the ways we and other developers in the area 

are trying to work together with local authorities to be responsible to the environment, enhance the beauty of the area and meet the growth demands. 

Congestion and traffic are escalating. The need for Red Hills Parkway to continue 

on and connect with Exit 13 on Interstate 15 is critical and timely. With communities already approved and not yet online, the current infrastructure will not meet 

the demands. 

Denying regional belt roads like the Northern Corridor will not keep people from 

moving here, but will reduce the quality of life and economic potential of our area. 

Red Hills Parkway was thoughtfully planned and executed initially preserving the 

surrounding beauty. The same planning and insight can be given to the proposed 

Northern Corridor connection. This road will not open our public lands to development—the adjacent public land will remain untouched except for possible trailheads 

for public enjoyment with use restrictions managed by the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve 

or BLM. 

Ample migration corridors for Reserve wildlife under the road is another solution 

to an important concern. 

With the unique topography of Washington County, it is critical to provide solutions for transportation. The natural beauty, the strength of the local communities 

and the State, will continue to draw people for the same reason many of us call this 

area home. Responsible planning is the solution and for this reason I support the 

proposed Northern Corridor now. 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you, Mr. Stewart. 

The Chair will now recognize Members of Congress for their 

questions, and I would like to begin with Congresswoman Maloy. 

The time is yours for questions. 

Ms. MALOY. Zach, I am going to start with you. 

You talked about water and long-term water planning, and obviously that is essential. I mean, we couldn’t ask for a more beautiful 

setting for this hearing. We could ask for a little bit better air 

conditioning. It is warm here. And that means every drop of water 

we have is precious. 

In 2015, when BLM released their resource management plan for 

the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, you were a County 

Commissioner and covering water issues. I was a Deputy County 

Attorney, and we worked together on this. 

Can you talk just a little bit about what was in that plan 

concerning water rights? 

Mr. RENSTROM. Located in NCA is an aquifer underneath that is 

critical to Washington County. Several of our local cities actually 

have wells up there, and they have been up there for years, and 

years, and years. 

In fact, we have certain infrastructure that runs through that, 

the NCA, that has been there almost 100 years now. So, it is critical that we have access to that really pristine aquifer. 

And part of the whole process, we want to make sure, is that we 

continue to have access to that aquifer. When we go and we put 

a pipeline in there or we put a well house, it has essentially no 

effect upon the tortoises. 

We know that we can actually go in and utilize that resource and 

have no effect upon the tortoises or any other habitat in the area. 

And that is one of the reasons why as a county, and as the 

County Commissioner, we were fighting for that, because it is 

critical. 
30 

Ms. MALOY. Yes. And when the plan first came out, there was 

language in there calling for BLM to claim those water rights that 

lie under the NCA, which violates state law, and there is no 

Federal authority to do it. 

And between me, you, Eric, and Adam, we all worked hard on 

this, and we got the BLM to take that language out. But it took 

a huge effort by a lot of people, including a lot of lawyers, to 

remind them that they don’t have the authority to do this. 

I started off by saying our bureaucracy is broken, and that is a 

really good example of our most precious, most limiting resource to 

growth here, they were trying to overreach their authority and 

claim it. 

And then you also talked about the land swaps that are required 

for long-term water planning here. In order to build water infrastructure projects, we have to do some land trades that require 

Federal Government involvement. 

And you talked about how long they take. Will you just talk a 

little bit about how much they cost? How much of the cost is not 

associated with a land swap but just with the bureaucracy? 

Mr. RENSTROM. Every time we get involved in one of these 

things, we are now estimating millions and millions of dollars, and 

it just keeps on escalating. 

And like the land exchange I was talking to you about, when we 

were first approached by the BLM, they told us 2 years, and if we 

could have stuck to that timeline, it would have saved time and 

money, because every time we have another meeting, we have to 

pay staff and we have to go out and get the consultants there and 

it just escalates astronomically, almost exponentially. 

And the other thing is that the Federal agencies will add 

bureaucracy. So, even though this started 8 years ago, we will be 

going through it, and then the Federal bureaucracies will come out 

with a new regulation or rule, and then we have to kind of step 

back several steps and start the process again. 

So, part of the problem of not getting that finished is they kind 

of create new rules as we are going through the process, and that 

makes it very expensive because then we have to dive into it. I 

have to pay attorneys to review it. I have to pay engineers that go 

through it and see how we are going to work through it. 

Ms. MALOY. Yes. And in the meantime, this is something the 

BLM actually wants done. It is getting more expensive, and we are 

going to end up with the exact same swap at the end. We didn’t 

get a better swap for all that time and all that money. 

Mr. RENSTROM. Yes. 

Ms. MALOY. I introduced the Water Rights Protection Act with 

Senator Barrasso from Wyoming just to address that original problem we talked about, to make it clear that agencies don’t have the 

ability to coerce water rights out of local governments or landowners in order to be able to do things on public lands. 

Eric, I want to quickly switch to you. You talked about school 

trust lands and how much of the SITLA, State Institutional Trust 

Lands, are in that Zone 6. 

Can you explain what the constitutional mandate for SITLA is? 

Mr. CLARKE. Yes. SITLA exists to make money for schoolchildren, period, right? Like that is what it does. So, whenever we 
31 

work with SITLA as a partner on a public lands issue, we have to 

figure out how to make it pencil out so that they can show financial 

benefit. They can’t simply be conservationists. They have to show 

that it makes money. 

Ms. MALOY. I am almost out of time, so I just want to wrap this 

up really quickly. 

If the county were to try to offer up Zone 6 without a Northern 

Corridor, in your opinion, would that violate SITLA’s state 

constitutional mandate? 

Mr. CLARKE. Yes. The Utah Education Association can and 

should sue SITLA if SITLA goes around and starts locking up land 

without getting money back for it. 

Ms. MALOY. So, we have a Federal agency asking a state agency 

to do something that would be unconstitutional? 

Mr. CLARKE. Right. 

Ms. MALOY. Mr. Chairman, I yield. 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you, Ms. Maloy. 

I would like to defer to my colleague, Mr. Moore, for 5 minutes. 

Mr. MOORE. Thank you. 

Folks, thanks for being here, sincerely. I get to go on a lot of field 

hearings in my other Committee, Ways and Means. We have been 

to several different places across the country. And the engagement 

here and the attendance is amazing. So, thanks for sticking it out. 

I really appreciate it. 

Almost to a person, you all have either been in my office or we 

have communicated somehow, and I don’t even represent 

Washington County. You bring a thoughtful approach that is comprehensive that cares about all the angles that are involved. 

And the frustrating part for me has been what I will just briefly 

open with. 

But first, on my script here, it says ‘‘Chairman Curtis.’’ 

It is going to be tough to call you that, John. 

Mr. CURTIS. Order. Order. The gentleman will—— 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. MOORE. I didn’t come to this role with a strong public lands 

experience. Virtually nothing. I came more from a national security 

perspective. And I will say that the two folks that we have here, 

I have been able to defer to them. I served on Natural Resources. 

I love this Committee. But I have been able to defer to them. 

John’s focus on land swaps and getting as much land back and 

low ownership control with a strong conservation, environmental 

approach to thinking about energy is second to none, and it has 

been an inspiring piece, particularly with Celeste. I mean, there is 

something unique to be able to have that much experience as not 

a Member of Congress, dealing with the actual details that she has 

leading up to this, that she immediately has made an impact on 

this world as she joined just not long ago. 

So, it has been an honor to be able to absolutely show up here. 

I wish I would have known it was here, and I would have had a 

tee time. But regardless. 

Debt is my biggest issue. It is what I dig into entirely on my 

Committees. Debt and immigration are things Congress has just 

proven they are not willing to work together on. 
32 

These types of issues, we actually, as a body of Congress, can 

come to some agreement on. And that is the frustrating part 

because what ends up happening is you have executive pingponging back and forth, executive overreach that happens. 

And I don’t like it when it is President Biden’s policy typically, 

and I may like it when it is a Republican in the White House. But 

the fact remains is all of this executive power that gets passed back 

and forth just creates a ping-pong for our elected officials that are 

actually just trying to do the right thing. 

And the other thing is legal obstruction. Like those are the two 

factors that create so much drama and turmoil that we can’t actually get something done. And that is ultimately why we are here 

today and highlighting some of these issues. 

I want to ask two very simple questions. Mr. Clarke and Mr. 

Snow, jump in too. 

How much money are we talking about? Thinking about Zone 6 

in particular, you have worked on fish and wildlife issues. Please, 

describe some of those efforts. 

And then, I mean, what are we talking as far as what the county 

has spent on just dealing with this back-and-forth? 

Mr. CLARKE. In Zone 6, since 2021, we are just over $6 million, 

and that has included a lot of different things we have done. We 

went out and we purchased some land from school trust lands, that 

they would like a 3-to-1 offset to the corridor. 

There was a lot of OHV use out there. That is obviously tougher 

on the tortoises than mountain bikers. 

So, we have pushed that off, we have fenced areas, we have 

signed areas, and then we have put a regular law enforcement 

presence out there. None of that is super cheap. 

And we have done a lot of education outreach. We try really hard 

to talk to our community, and to talk to our recreational community in particular, about we can co-exist with our endangered 

species issues that we have. 

So, we drop money every single day. If you go into the new 

county building, you will see a beautiful visitor center that is there 

to educate people about our area and how we live here and co-exist 

with what we do. 

Mr. MOORE. Anything to add, Mr. Snow? 

Mr. SNOW. Yes. Eric covered all the things, the direct costs from 

the county. That is a rounding error compared to the value of the 

land that SITLA has already put in, the road improvements on the 

area outside the NCA that the Northern Corridor will connect to. 

Just the detrimental reliance on the good-faith agreement that 

we had from the county, from the city, from the state, from the 

SITLA. 

To add all of those up, we are talking tens of millions of dollars. 

Mr. MOORE. Thanks so much. I have another question here for 

you on grazing, which is very much a northern Utah issue too, but 

I will postpone it for now with my time. 

Director Braceras, lastly, give me an estimate, give me a sense 

for how much financial investment we could have avoided if we 

would have just had a good-faith effort working together. 
33 

Which I know there are players in there, and then all of a sudden things just kind of at the last minute, either a lawsuit happens 

or an election comes up, that type of stuff. 

Just give me a sense for what are we talking as far as missed 

opportunities here. 

Mr. BRACERAS. Yes. Thank you, Congressman. Time is money. To date, we have spent $7 million just to do the EIS for the BLM. We have paid another $1.5 million to do some 

geotechnical work, working towards doing the engineering after the 

issuance of the right-of-way, after the record of decision. 

To give you an idea of how time impacts us, in 2021, our inflationary costs on our program were 16 percent a year, construction 

costs. In 2022, they went to 12 percent. Last year, they were 8 

percent. This year it looks like they are tracking. We have a program right now of about $7 billion. So, it is easy 

to do the math. Any time you delay a project by a year, you are 

adding hundreds of millions of dollars to the cost to the state to try 

to deliver the much-needed transportation system. So, it is 

important. 

The product, the Northern Corridor in this case, the product will 

save lives and make people’s lives better. And to do so at a reasonable cost, we need to be able to move forward together with all of 

the partners in good faith. 

Mr. MOORE. Thank you. 

Mr. Chairman, I yield back. 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you, Mr. Moore. 

I now yield to myself for questions. I would like to start with Mr. 

Braceras. 

Carlos, how long have you served in your current role? 

Mr. BRACERAS. Mr. Chairman, you didn’t tell me that this was 

an embarrassing—— 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. BRACERAS. I am currently 12 years as Executive Director. 

Mr. CURTIS. And how many years with UDOT? 

Mr. BRACERAS. With UDOT, June will be 38 years. 

Mr. CURTIS. OK. So, that makes you qualified to answer my 

question. 

How often do you build a road, particularly of this consequence, 

without opposition? 

Mr. BRACERAS. Nothing worth doing is easy, it seems like. 

Mr. CURTIS. So, in other words, you expect opposition on any 

road that you are going to build anywhere in the state? 

Mr. BRACERAS. The answer is yes. I wish it wasn’t that case, but 

when you are trying to prepare for the future you have to have a 

big, bold vision, and sometimes it is hard. 

Mr. CURTIS. As I have driven around the state, sometimes I have 

been on a road, I think of I-70 as an example, where I ask myself: 

Would this ever be built today? 

And I am curious, in your mind, if we use the same standards 

we are using for the Northern Corridor, how would transportation 

in Utah look? 

Mr. BRACERAS. It is hard to imagine we could do the things that 

we need to do to support our economy, our society. Today, it seems 

like it is much harder to do things that matter. I started my career 
34 

as a designer, designing the last barrel, 16 miles of I-70, Ghost 

Rocks to Rattlesnake Bench, and it was a wonderful project. 

Mr. CURTIS. Yes. And sometimes we talk about the economy, but 

I also want to throw in healthcare, our ability to offer services to 

people in need, and education, and many other things, in addition 

to just being nice to drive around. 

Do you think, as you look at this Northern Corridor and the 

other projects you have worked on, have you or your department 

tried any less hard to meet the environmental standards on this 

road than any other road you have ever built? 

Mr. BRACERAS. Absolutely not. 

We hold ourselves to a high standard. We live here. This is our 

home. We care about the lands, the wildlife in our homes. So, we 

hold ourselves to a standard in which we want to make sure we 

are going above and beyond. 

We talk about meeting a transportation need, but we also, when 

we do a project, we want to improve communities and we want to 

improve the environment. We think there is an opportunity to 

accomplish all three of those things together. 

Mr. CURTIS. That is great. Thank you. 

Commissioner Snow, I am going to take you a little bit off the 

record and off what you may have anticipated. But you and I had 

a conversation a little earlier today that centered around just how 

deeply people in this area do care about being environmentalists, 

quite frankly, and leaving this Earth better than we found it. 

How far back do you and your family go in this area? 

Mr. SNOW. 1849. 

Mr. CURTIS. 1849. During that period of time, would you and 

your ancestors feel that you have done a good job preserving and 

protecting this area? 

Mr. SNOW. Clearly, yes. 

Mr. CURTIS. And I am curious, during your time, particularly in 

service, how often have you been approached from Washington, 

DC, from the executive branch, asking you your opinion for how 

this land should be taken care of? 

Mr. SNOW. Zero. 

Mr. CURTIS. Zero times. Yet, you would bring quite a bit of expertise from those generations and generations of good stewardship in 

taking care of it. 

Is it fair to say that sometimes you feel, I don’t know if the right 

word is that we are hypocritical, or I am not sure how you would 

describe it, to be in the position where you have guarded and 

protected these lands, now your opinion is not sought, and somebody from far away wants to tell you how to manage these lands. 

Can you just give us a sense of how, not just you, but how others 

in the community feel about that? 

Mr. SNOW. Insulted. It is absolutely insulting to think that those 

of us, just this morning on our wonderful social media, somebody 

said that, ‘‘You don’t care. You only care about the money, Adam. 

You would pave every inch of this county.’’ 

My family settled this county. They led the 300 families that 

were originally called here. Nobody can love this county more than 

I do. Some people may be able to love it just as much, but nobody 

loves it more, I guarantee you that. 
35 

And for us to be the stewards that we have and to develop the 

things and the hard work that it took to make this this incredible 

place now, that somebody can come in from Connecticut or 

California or somewhere else and say, ‘‘Trust us, you have screwed 

it up for the last 180 years, let us tell you now how to do it,’’ is 

insulting. 

Mr. CURTIS. Yes, I think it is. During this hearing, I have 

listened carefully. I have not heard any of my colleagues and I 

have not heard any of the witnesses suggest that we shortcut any 

environmental standards. I have not heard anybody suggest that 

we don’t care about doing this the right way. 

But there is a great sense of frustration. And, Commissioner 

Snow, you expressed it so well, I am actually just going to stop 

there and let your words hang for a minute. 

And I am now going to defer to my colleague, Congresswoman 

Maloy, if she has a second round of questions. 

Ms. MALOY. I do. I have some questions I didn’t get to with 

Commissioner Snow and with Mr. Braceras. 

I will start with Commissioner Snow, since your mic is all 

warmed up. 

You talked about the 2020 SEIS. Will you just explain what an 

SEIS is and why we are having one in 2020? 

Mr. SNOW. Yes. The National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA, 

dictates that there are various levels of analysis based on what 

somebody is going to do on the land, or proposing to do, and then 

they analyze what that is. 

And the highest level of analysis is an Environmental Impact 

Statement. SEIS is a Supplemental Environment Impact 

Statement. So, it is a review of the original analysis. 

Ms. MALOY. And in that 2020 SEIS, one of the things that was 

agreed to was a study to see the impact of wildfire on tortoises. 

I want to ask unanimous consent that we submit, for part of the 

hearing record, Utah Department of Wildlife Resources study on 

the impacts of wildfire on desert tortoises in this region. 

Just as a spoiler alert, for those of you who are not going to take 

the time to go read this entire study on the record, the tortoises 

are doing fine. The impact is negligible. So, thank you for that. 

And you talked a little bit about everything we do here has a 

Federal nexus. We are a public lands state. This is a public lands 

county. You are a local elected official. You are a County 

Commissioner. 

Can you just speak to the processes you have to go through as 

a local elected official to do the things that you are required to do 

for your constituents? 

Mr. SNOW. There are many, many hoops to jump through. Name 

any project, whether it is roads, water, power lines, providing 

healthcare, access for people to get to grazing allotments, anything, 

every single thing the first call is always to a partner, the Federal 

Government. Whether it is the Forest Service, the BLM, the 

National Park Service, we are always having to go through them. 

And luckily we do have good relationships with many of the people on the ground. They are good, honest public servants. Their 

bosses in DC are the ones that generally don’t know what they are 

doing and cause the headaches for us. 
36 

But everything we do has to go through the Federal Government. 

Ms. MALOY. And has calling one of those Federal partners ever 

made something you are doing for your constituents cheaper or 

easier? 

Mr. SNOW. Never. 

Ms. MALOY. Thank you. 

All right. Mr. Stewart, I have one for you. 

As a developer in this area, you have never had to work directly 

with the Fish and Wildlife Service even though you are developing 

land in an area with listed species, the endangered desert tortoise, 

because Washington County has had a habitat conservation plan in 

place for almost 30 years now, and you get to deal directly with the 

county when you are developing land. 

Can you just talk a little bit about what the importance of that 

is to you as a developer? 

Mr. STEWART. Well, obviously, if we had to take on the Federal 

Government just for a development, it wouldn’t be feasible or 

practical at all. 

I think, as I have listened to the discussion here today, I would 

like to have the other stakeholders, they all charge impact fees, 

well, at least Zach does. 

And I am wondering, every person that is sitting here, how much 

money of a water impact fee is charged to take care of all this legal 

and Federal work that is going on? Because impact fees are a big 

part of what is causing affordable housing to not be affordable. 

Ms. MALOY. Well, I don’t know if you are allowed to question 

Zach, so I am just going to go ahead and let him answer that 

question if he would like to. 

Mr. RENSTROM. That is actually a really good question. We have 

not done the analysis on that specific issue, but I can tell you it 

is incorporated into the impact fees, and it is in the millions of 

dollars. 

Ms. MALOY. Thanks. 

And then, Carlos, I am just going to wrap up with you. You have 

a lot of experience working in the Department of Transportation. 

We have established that. 

Do we know how to engineer roads that are porous and would 

allow tortoises to go back and forth? 

Mr. BRACERAS. Thank you, Congressman. 

Yes, we do. As was mentioned earlier, we were planning to build 

culverts that allow the tortoise to go back and forth. Basically we 

want to create a road that doesn’t bifurcate the preserve so that 

we can really enhance this area. 

So, yes, we know how to engineer it. Yes, we know how to build 

it. Yes, we know how to maintain and operate facilities that can 

live alongside the wildlife. 

Ms. MALOY. So, the factors that are stalling this project are not 

engineering or design factors? 

Mr. BRACERAS. Absolutely, they are not things that are stalling 

this project. 

Unfortunately, we are not even allowed to have the conversations 

about engineering and design processes, to bring that into the conversation. We are being left out of the conversation. 
37 

Ms. MALOY. Mr. Chairman, I am almost done. I just want to 

wrap up where I started. 

Our bureaucracy is broken. I mean, if you have been sitting here 

listening to this, it is very clear that we have public servants who 

want to do things that are in the interest of the people who live 

here. We know how to do those things. We know what the answer 

is. 

But we are stalled in years and years of red tape and expense 

to get those things done. And what we get at the end of it is not 

an improved product. We just get more debt and more costs. 

And all of that is borne by the taxpayers. The taxpayers are 

paying for both sides of the lawsuits. The taxpayers are paying for 

the increased costs over time of the projects. Taxpayers are paying 

for all of the studies, all the personnel, all the people who are 

showing up and doing this kind of back-and-forth just to try to get 

the basics we need for transportation, water, a lifestyle, a life here. 

So, with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield. 

Mr. CURTIS. The gentlewoman yields. 

The Chair now recognizes the gentleman, Mr. Moore. 

Mr. MOORE. Thank you. Just a couple more things to flesh out. 

Mr. Stewart, you actually hit on a really important part. I have 

spoken with UTA numerous times. I have worked with folks from 

every municipality that I represent. 

The congestion that potentially comes from growth with regards 

to affordable housing, right? It is a supply-and-demand issue 

entirely, right? It is one of the big reasons for the driver of affordable housing. 

Building transportation networks that will alleviate congestion is 

a big key factor. Figuring out how to deal with this NIMBYism 

that we continue to hold on to so strongly is another major issue. 

But the way that we regulate our ability to build is a huge part 

of it, and it adds an enormous amount of cost. And those costs, if 

you save on those costs because you find something that is archaic 

or really nonsensical, which there are plenty, those costs get passed 

directly to the consumer. 

This is not something that developers are holding on to because 

we have a competitive market in this field, and it will get passed 

directly to them. 

So, you hit on a very important part, and I just wanted to 

reiterate how doing smart regulation in not an overburdensome 

way can actually help reduce the cost to get younger folks in 

houses. 

I can tell you, I sit on the Social Security Subcommittee. We are 

in a tough spot going into the next decade. We don’t have the 

financial situation that we did. And if we don’t have people getting 

and investing in property, in homes, even if it is a smaller condo, 

they are going to have a much more difficult time than even I did, 

and I am not that far of a generation away from them. 

So, hot button topic for me. And I appreciate you bringing that 

up. 

I would actually just like to continue to question you, Mr. 

Renstrom and Mr. Stewart. How have you addressed water issues? 

How have you been able to find conservation approaches? I have 
38 

had St. George City municipality leaders in my office a bunch 

talking about this. 

Can you highlight some of the significant wins that you have 

done over the last few years? 

Mr. STEWART. We have developed a 2,600-unit community. And 

when we started out, water wasn’t an issue. In fact, when we 

started, we asked the city if we could put in purple pipe, which is 

reuse. So, we put in two systems. The reuse would be dry until the 

reuse water was available. And we were turned down on that. 

So, we have moved forward as best we can to conserve water. 

Now, the last 300 homes that we built, having grass, like the grass 

you are sitting on, was not an option. If they wanted any kind of 

a grass, it had to be an artificial turf. And, yes, the community center has some grass around it, but I think everybody needs a little 

bit of grass. 

So, in design of our communities, we have been very cautious to 

design with water as a future issue. So, yes. 

Mr. MOORE. Thank you. 

Mr. Renstrom, anything to add? 

Mr. RENSTROM. One of the things that we have done is work 

extensively with the home builders. Of course, the home builders, 

like you said, are very concerned with costs. And we basically 

reached an agreement with the home builders that if they start 

building these highly efficient, water-efficient homes, that we can 

lower our impact fees. 

So, right now, compared to what we could have, our impact fees 

are about $5,000 to $6,000 lower per home because they are simply 

going to have a lower impact. 

So, we just think of these creative solutions with that, of how we 

work with the home builders, lower our impact fees, make sure 

homes are more affordable, but yet still conserve water. 

And it has actually been a very positive experience down here, 

and it has been moving forward very quickly. 

Mr. MOORE. Commissioner Snow, how long have you been in 

office? 

Mr. SNOW. Just over 2 years. 

Mr. MOORE. I have been just 31⁄2. I recommend not reading the 

comments on social media. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. MOORE. Can we talk grazing real quick? 

The potential impacts of the BLM’s new conservation rule that 

has recently been put out, there are a lot of concerns, obviously, 

goes down party lines for the most part, right. 

And I challenge that. And I think if people actually really dug 

into the issues, they would be able to find what I mentioned before. 

This is actually an area Congress can usually find a path forward 

on, unlike some of the other issues that are, obviously, very important to our nation too, a frustration that I have with my own 

employment location. 

But this is something, like, grazing, just grazing. What does this 

do to grazing? What does this do to the outlook of grazing? Is this 

a hindrance or will this be promoting more opportunities for 

grazing, this type of BLM authority that is coming out? 

Mr. SNOW. Absolutely a hindrance, for sure. 
39 

And just to your point, Congressman, in this county alone we 

have massive amounts of land set aside. You have the Red Hills 

NCA. You have the Beaver Dam Wash NCA. You have the national 

forest which has enormous amounts of wilderness area. 

You have the second busiest national park, not a small one. You 

have four state parks in the middle of the county as well. 

We have a lot of conservation in this county. You have, even on 

the less regulated, you have major areas of ACECs in the other 

areas of the BLM land. 

So, conservation is important, nothing to take away from that, 

but it is balancing multiple use. And to elevate the conservation 

rule to say that conservation is now at the same level, that was not 

in FLPMA, and that only hinders grazing. 

And for many of the people in this audience here who are 

actively grazing to support their families, I can only imagine the 

terror and the fear in their eyes looking at the future. 

Mr. MOORE. Yes. One thing we definitely do a very poor job of 

in Congress is giving people some consistency. We don’t do it to 

business owners, we don’t do it for tax policy, we don’t do it to 

landowners, to know what is going on. 

I love what I am seeing in some areas in my district. Conservation easements. They are doing it in a way that keeps the Federal 

Government out of it. They are making it private sector-related. 

They are engaged. 

And while they are doing it, they have these opportunities for 

grazing that goes on. Grazing has limited a significant risk with regards to wildfire. Like there are so many positive impacts from 

this. 

This type of ruling, I anticipate, in the change of Administration, 

these things will, obviously, go a different direction. But it doesn’t 

really solve the problem that we don’t get at the root of it and we 

don’t let Congress actually address this. 

Because I know there are more reasonable people that could find 

some type of compromise, that would say, ‘‘All right, this is what 

our 10- or 15-year outlook is going to look like and we will reassess 

then.’’ 

Because grazing is absolutely essential with respect to not only 

livelihood, but to our environment and our conservation efforts. 

So, thank you very much. 

And I yield back, Chairman. 

Mr. CURTIS. The gentleman yields. 

I will ask a few final questions. For those of you that are getting 

warm, we are getting very close, so hang with us for just a minute. 

Congressman Moore mentioned the BLM rule, and I would like 

to point out that I had sponsored a bill that has made its way 

through the Natural Resources Committee, it would get to the 

House Floor, to repeal that rule. 

Commissioner, you and I both want to take this moment to point 

out, this isn’t because we don’t want to preserve and protect these 

lands. But an agency having unquestionable ability to make these 

decisions about where we lock up grazing and other activities on 

the land is not the way that our Founders intended us to operate. 

You don’t need to comment on that, but the nodded head is good 

enough. 
40 

I would also like to point out, to Congressman Moore’s point, I 

hate to give him this, that he made a good point, but I am going 

to say that—— 

Mr. MOORE. Hold on, let me record this. 

Ms. MALOY. It is on the record. 

Mr. MOORE. It is on the record. 

Mr. CURTIS. This is an issue that we can beat. And what I mean 

by that is, we can come together with different viewpoints. It is not 

like we really disagree on what we want to have happen. We want 

to preserve and protect. We want to be able to have economic 

development. We want to be able to have the essential corridors 

that we need. 

And I am confident. And I would point to the Emery County 

Public Lands Bill as a really good example where we set aside 1.3 

million acres and designated where we would graze, where we 

would recreate, where we would extract, and where we would protect, and actually found consensus. It is difficult to do, but it can 

be done. 

And I would just like to say to this group that is here, as we 

start to wind down, I am very grateful, as the Chairman, that you 

have all done such a great job. Maybe it is the heat that has kept 

you mellowed out. But you have done a great job of being participants today, thank you for coming, on both sides of this issue, and 

thank you for listening patiently. 

I will just mention again that I am available, and to the extent 

my colleagues are available, to mingle with you afterwards. If your 

points weren’t made, please take a minute to come up and express 

the things you would like to us to do. 

And finally, in conclusion, I would like to point out, simply 

because we are in this county, we haven’t really emphasized a lot 

of the problems that we see in other parts of the state with this 

overreach. 

So, I do want to bring up extraction and point out that there are 

parts of our state that we are being limited in extraction as well. 

And this is the very extraction that will provide the critical 

minerals to drive the new economy that all of us have talked about, 

that we would like to do. 

We hold underneath Utah’s surface some of the most important 

critical minerals for our future. And for those of you who want to 

get cleaner and cleaner, they are under our surface, and these 

BLM rules are prohibiting us from accessing those. 

We mentioned grazing. I want to re-emphasize grazing. And 

recreation as well. These rules are also prohibiting recreation. 

What is the point of having these lands if we can’t take our 

grandkids and they can’t take their kids out into these lands and 

enjoy the beautiful nature that we have? 

So, I just want to point, as you move around the state, there are 

other issues here that are important to recognize as well. 

And with that, I conclude the questioning portion of our hearing. 

I would like to thank our witnesses for their valuable testimony 

and the Members for their questions. Members of the Committee 

may have some additional questions for our witnesses today, and 

we ask that they respond to those in writing. 
41 

By the way, Congresswoman Maloy, we will accept your 

document into the record, without objection. 

[The information follows:] 

Statement for the Record 

J. Shirley, Director 

Utah Department of Wildlife Resources 

Chairman Curtis, Representative Maloy, Moore, and other distinguished members 

of the Federal Lands Subcommittee, thank you for coming to the great state of Utah 

and allowing me to provide information for the record regarding the status of the 

Mojave desert tortoise (MDT) as part of the Northern Corridor project. Speaking on 

behalf of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR), we are very grateful to 

the members of the Utah Delegation for bringing this issue forward. My name is 

J. Shirley, and I am the Director of the State of Utah’s Department of Natural 

Resources, Division of Wildlife Resources. The UDWR has been granted authority 

over wildlife and its management within the state borders and, therefore, is the 

state’s wildlife expert. 

The UDWR has 2023 MDT population estimates, updated from the 2019 MDT 

population estimate, within the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area (NCA) to 

assess the impacts of the 2020 wildfires on the Mojave desert tortoise. The MDT 

populations across the NCA have stabilized, and there is no evidence of 

recent declines in tortoise densities following the 2020 wildfires (Figure 

18a). The 2023 abundance estimate of 2,425 individuals across the NCA 

(Zones 2, 3, and 5) is the highest recorded since 2005. 

Summary of UDWR. 2024. MOJAVE DESERT TORTOISE POPULATION 

MONITORING WITHIN THE RED CLIFFS NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA, 

2023. Publication Number 24-07. 

• Primary goal: Determine the current tortoise density and long-term 

demographic and population trends for desert tortoises within the Red Cliffs 

NCA. 

- Obtaining population estimates in the calendar year 2023, exactly 25 years 

since the full-scale implementation of the monitoring program, will allow for 

trend evaluation of one tortoise generation, an important recovery criterion. 

- Population monitoring efforts were concentrated on federal lands within 

Management Zones 2, 3, 4, and 5 in the Red Cliffs NCA; additional surveys 

were conducted in surrounding areas on State Trust Institutional Lands 

Administration (STILA) and Utah Department of Natural Resources 

(UDNR) lands. 

• Secondary goal: to evaluate the effectiveness of the recovery program and 

implement appropriate adaptive management strategies to recover desert 

tortoises in the Upper Virgin River Recovery Unit (UVRRU). 

Relevant Findings: 

• Since 2009, tortoise populations across the NCA appear to have stabilized, 

and there is no evidence of recent declines in tortoise densities (Figure 18a) 

• We estimate there are 2,425 adult tortoises across Management Zones 2, 3, 

and 5, and an additional 359 adult tortoises estimated in Management Zone 

4, the translocation site for displaced tortoises. Our abundance estimate of 

2,784 adult tortoises in Zones 2–5 is similar to abundance estimates from a 

2023 drone survey which estimated 2,609 animals (Bandy 2023) 

• Our 2023 abundance estimate of 2,425 across the NCA (Zones 2, 3, and 

5) is the highest recorded since 2005. Further, translocating displaced 

tortoises helped establish a robust population within Management Zone 4 

(UDWR 2019). These estimates are also similar to the 2023 drone surveys, 

although drone estimates were slightly lower (1,221 adult tortoises; Bandy 

2023). 

• In general, the majority of tortoises appeared healthy, with appropriate 

muscle mass and weight. We observed numerous tortoises actively foraging 

with green around their mouths. In addition, we observed a high number of 

recaptures relative to previous years. Interestingly, we recaptured seven 
42 

tortoises that were originally marked 26 to 51 years prior. Four of those 

tortoises were marked with a distinctive permanent marking system (e.g., 

drill holes in marginals) that was implemented prior to 1985 in the Paradise 

Canyon and Red Cliffs Recreation Area. 

• Densities within the NCA are currently higher than many other Mojave 

desert tortoise populations, range wide (2.2 to 7.2 tortoises per km2; USFWS 

2021b). 

• Recovery actions implemented as part of the Washington County Habitat 

Conservation Plan, including protection of existing habitat, restoration of 

degraded habitat (e.g., disturbed, burned), tortoise fencing on the perimeter 

of the NCA, community education programs, translocation of displaced 

animals, addition of Management Zone 6, and law enforcement presence, are 

important to maintain stable populations. In addition, the NCA designation 

in 2009 offered additional regulations and oversight to protect tortoises and 

their habitat (Pub.L. 111-11, H.R. 146). 

• Zone 6 provides additional protection for an estimated 772 tortoises. 

It protects an additional 6,813 acres of habitat in the Reserve that has 

not been impacted by fires in the recent past (Bandy 2022). 

Zone 6 Long-term Benefits 

Washington County has identified Zone 6 as mitigation for the Northern Corridor 

and the loss of DNR land purchased with USFWS Section 6 funds. Zone 6 has experienced very little fire (80 acres since 1976) and has an intact vegetation community 

with 50% fewer noxious weeds and invasive species compared to the rest of the 

reserve. Being separated from the other zones allows Zone 6 to serve as a refuge 

population. 

Incorporating Zone 6 is valuable because ‘‘desert tortoises are long-lived; they may 

persist in an isolated and small area for a long time and still maintain a resource 

pool for genetic diversity. However, over several generations, a minimum abundance 

level is necessary to ensure successful reproduction and to avoid inbreeding depression and loss of fitness. Connectivity within and between areas can help maintain 

demographic and genetic needs (USFWS 2011).’’ Protecting the SITLA and other 

non-federal lands in Zone 6 provides resilience and redundancy. 

‘‘The protection of additional habitat within the UVRRU (e.g., Management Zone 

6) increases the viability of desert tortoises living within the protected habitat and 

provides resiliency and redundancy against the cumulative threats they face 

(USFWS 2021b)’’. 

Conclusion 

The most recent population monitoring report found MDT populations across the 

NCA have stabilized, and there is no evidence of recent declines in tortoise densities 

following the 2020 wildfires. The 2023 abundance estimate of 2,425 individuals 

across the NCA (Zones 2, 3, and 5) is the highest recorded since 2005. 

The DWR’s updated population monitoring validates the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service’s original 2021 findings in the Final Biological Opinion for the Northern 

Corridor Highway Project, in that the ROW for the Northern Corridor ‘‘is not likely 

to jeopardize the continued existence of the desert tortoise in the UVRRU and 

rangewide . . . [and] the proposed action is not likely to destroy or adversely modify 

designated critical habitat for the desert tortoise.’’ (USFWS 2021a). Furthermore, 

the 6,813 acres of land within Zone 6 is high-quality, year-long habitat for MDT 

populations and adds resiliency and redundancy to the UVRRU. 

Citations 

Bandy, M. 2022. A method for Mojave Desert Tortoise Drone Surveys and a 

Controlled Field Test. Report submitted to the Washington County Habitat 

Conservation Plan. Resi-2022-001-02. 

Bandy, M. 2023. Drone surveys for the Mojave Desert Tortoise in Zones 2-5 of the 

Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. Report submitted to the Washington County Habitat 

Conservation Plan. Resi-2023-014-01. 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2021a. Biological Opinion for the Northern 

Corridor Highway Project. January 2021. Utah Ecological Services Field Office, Salt 

Lake City, Utah. 100 pages 
43 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2021b. Biological report for the Upper 

Virgin River recovery unit 14 population of the Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus 

agassizii), Version 1. January 2021. Utah Ecological Services Field Office, Salt Lake 

City, Utah. 119 pages plus appendices. 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2011. Revised recovery plan for the Mojave 

population of the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Pacific Southwest Region, Sacramento, California. 

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR). 2024. MOJAVE DESERT TORTOISE 

POPULATION MONITORING WITHIN THE RED CLIFFS NATIONAL 

CONSERVATION AREA, 2023. Publication Number 24-07. 

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR). 2019. Translocation in the Red Cliffs 

Desert Reserve, Summary Report, 1999-2018. Utah Div. of Wildl. Res., Publ. 

Number 98-04. 

Mr. CURTIS. Under Committee Rule 3, members of the 

Committee must submit questions to the Committee Clerk by 5 

p.m. on Thursday, April 25. The hearing record will be held open 

for 10 business days for these responses. 

If there is no further business, without objection, the Committee 

on Natural Resources stands adjourned. 

Thank you, everyone. 

[Whereupon, at 1:18 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.] 

Æ