Letter to the Editor: Northern Corridor would destroy yet more of Southern Utah’s untamed beauty

In the path of the proposed Northern Corridor Highway, Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, Utah, Jan. 9, 2019 | Photo by Sarah Thomas/Conserve Southwest Utah, St. George News

OPINION — As I write this, I am sitting at my desk looking out the window and behold the majestic Pine Valley Mountain. Between my backyard and Pine Valley mountain are a series of textures and colors of the hills and lava topped mesas, as well as the scrub brush.

The view of Red Cliffs Desert Reserve from the backyard of the author of a letter to the editor opposing the proposed Northern Corridor, Washington City, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Mary Jo Vilicich, St. George News

My husband and I had this house built in the Green Springs area abutting Bureau of Land Management land that protects the desert tortoise and other threatened animals and plants. We also access hiking trails within walking distance and enjoy the quiet and the dark night skies.

We moved from California to retire here, specifically to enjoy this unspoiled land of beauty in Southern Utah. Now that it is spring, we are watching beautiful quail and other types of birds mate and build nests in the bushes. We also see rabbits, ravens, hawks, lizards and the tracks of the protected desert tortoises.

To build the Northern Corridor highway through the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve and National Conservation Area would be not only be a shameful act of destroying nature and its endangered animals, it is also a waste of tax dollars.

The Northern Corridor Highway and its connected projects would cost over $150 million. The highway will produce more pollution, litter, noise and crime, and the lights from cars, trucks and overhead street lights would eliminate the night skies. This proposed highway serves little purpose when there are transportation alternatives, like the Red Hills Parkway Flyovers for $17 million, that could reduce traffic at a fraction of the cost of the Northern Corridor Highway.

To spoil the untamed land that is getting overrun by progress is not the solution. Will you join me in writing a letter to protect Red Cliffs during the Northern Corridor Highway public comment period starting on June 12?

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to plan in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.”  – John Muir

Submitted by MARY JO VILICICH, Washington City Green Springs resident.

Letters to the Editor are not the product of St. George News, its editors, staff or news contributors. The matters stated and opinions given are the responsibility of the person submitting them. They do not reflect the product or opinion of St. George News and are given only light edit for technical style and formatting.

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