St. George • More than 16,000 public comments have been submitted for a proposal on whether to allow a highway to be built through a protected Mojave desert tortoise habitat in southern Utah, federal officials said.
The proposed four-lane road has drawn criticism from conservationists because the corridor would run through land set aside to protect the tortoise.
The Bureau of Land Management opened the public comment period last month and will now go through all of the comments before releasing the draft environmental impact statement, The Spectrum newspaper reported Wednesday.
"We make sure we reach out to local neighbors and reach out nationally since we manage public lands for the nation," BLM spokesperson Christian Venhuizen said.