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On Wednesday, the U.S. Forest Service withdrew a federal permit for a section of the Uinta Basin Railway project, a proposed 88-mile rail route that would transport crude oil from oil fields in eastern Utah to the Union Pacific railroad. If completed, the project would allow millions of gallons of crude oil to be transported through delicate ecosystems in the Rocky Mountains and along the Colorado River, which provides water for more than 40 million people across the West.
This is the latest development in a string of events that have halted the construction of the railway. After the Surface Transportation Board approved the project in December 2021, the Forest Service approved a permit in 2022 that would allow a 12-mile section of the railway to be built through Ashley National Forest in Utah. In August 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the Surface Transportation Board's approval of the project. Now, with the Forest Service's withdrawal of the permit, proponents of the railway will have to think of new ways to revive the project.
Senator Michael Bennet and Representative Joe Neguse of Colorado applauded the Forest Service's decision to withdraw the permit. Bennet and Neguse have opposed the railway project since 2022, calling on groups like the Biden administration’s Council on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency to fully consider the effects of the railway on Colorado’s communities, watersheds, and forests.
New report shows that national monuments are the heart of the West
A new report from the The Mountain Pact—a coalition of local elected officials in over 100 Western mountain communities—shows that across the board, from county commissioners, mayors, and council members to community members and everyday voters across the West, national monuments are extremely popular. The report explains that national monuments provide conservation and economic benefits, and that Western voters want elected officials to support the designation of new monuments. The report also spotlights new national monuments President Biden could designate or expand, including Chuckwalla National Monument and the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument expansion in California.
Correction: Wolves would greatly benefit bighorn sheep populations in the Sierra Nevada
In yesterday's edition of Look West, one of the Quick Hits implied that reining in wolves would help increase Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep populations. This was a mistake—reining in mountain lions, not wolves, would benefit bighorn sheep in this region.
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National monuments are important to Western communities, and protecting public lands has always been a bipartisan effort and one that all Americans can celebrate. We continue to urge President Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to protect more places with cultural and scientific significance as national monuments.”
