On March 10, 2022, the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition voted to cease planning and withdraw their permits for the Book Cliffs Highway.
We didn’t expect to win this way.
After years of organizing against this boondoggle of a special-interest project, we thought it would take much longer to defeat the Highway.
Fortunately, we were able to convince some SCIC board members of what we knew all along:
The Highway would have taken valuable tourism traffic away from the communities of Duchesne, Helper, Price, Green River, Loma, Rangely, and Dinosaur. Sending tourists into this wild area is bad for the tourists and bad for these towns.
The Book Cliffs Highway would be exorbitantly expensive. Estimates range from $150 million up to $400 million.
Other infrastructure needs the investment more. Rural residents deserve working infrastructure for the routes we depend on.
The wild, remote region is worthy of protection. Home to big game migration corridors, countless cultural artifacts, as well as resident ranchers and homesteaders, this area needs protection, not a highway.
We’re not stopping here.
After 30 years of fighting this irresponsible project, we’ve seen the way it can return from the dead over and over again. This vote buys us time. We’ll use that time to enact some permanent protections for the Book Cliffs Region.