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According to the U.S. Forest Service, an 88-mile-long rail line that would transport mainly crude oil and sand for hydraulic fracturing operations in the Uinta Basin can pass through a 12-mile stretch of the Ashley National Forest, including roadless areas prohibited from development.
In a letter responding to the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the opponents of the project, U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore said the Uinta Basin Railway would help the local economy and would not pose significant environmental harm or violate roadless-area protections because rail lines aren't considered roads under the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The project would include the construction of five bridges and three tunnels, with a right of way that would range from 100 feet to 2,100 feet wide, with the bigger dimensions needed for tunnels. Moore's response letter follows a draft record of decision approving the portion of the project in the national forest.
Before the record of decision was published, the Center for Biological Diversity and other opponents of the project urged the Forest Service to reject the project. Their letter states, "We ask that the Forest Service decline to issue the right of way because it directly conflicts with the administration’s climate change policies to significantly reduce emissions by 2030 and the roadless rule." According to their estimates, the group believes that if the project is approved trains bound for Gulf Coast refineries could carry as much as 350,000 barrels of crude oil a day through the forest—four times the amount currently trucked to Salt Lake City. "Conservative estimates of carbon pollution from this expansion of fossil fuel extraction equal to up to 53 million tons of CO2, 6 times more than the annual emissions of the dirtiest coal plant in Utah," they said.
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I am honored to serve as Director of the National Park Service and thank President Biden and Secretary Haaland for entrusting in me the care of one of America’s greatest gifts: our National Park System. I am also incredibly proud to work with the dedicated employees of the National Park Service. I have no doubt that together, we’ll be able to expand access to the outdoors, protect America’s public lands, and upgrade our nation’s infrastructure system through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law."
