House Bill 285 was proposed on Capitol Hill earlier this year, and this bill would require cities and counties to think about how new buildings and developments might hurt local wildlife. This would mean that before construction, cities and counties would have to study the impacts of their proposed infrastructure through consulting the state’s Department of Natural Resources and other wildlife experts.
The issue of complete disregard for wildlife and their habitats when building is not new to Utah. Salt Lake City is growing at an unprecedented pace, and in 2023, data reports helped researchers highlight how the increase in temperature and urbanisation is making it far more difficult for Native wildlife to adjust to their changing environments.
This issue does not only apply to the state’s capitol, though, as just earlier this year, in January, the state’s Conservation Lands Foundation also published a report on the Federal Agency’s decision to continue building a highway through Utah’s very own Red Cliffs National Conservation Area. This decision has been highly cautioned and even condemned by many researchers and residents, saying, “This is a very disturbing decision. The pollution, lights, and noise will significantly reduce my quality of life.”
To make this construction final and put plans into place, many others are also wary of the message it sends moving forward. The decision “also sets a precedent that public lands are open for development,” says the Vice President of Conservation Field Programs for Conservation Lands Foundation. The conservation area was also promised to the people of Utah to be protected, and the vice president also states that “Allowing a four-lane highway to bulldoze through a Congressionally-protected National Conservation Area betrays that promise.”
These are only a few of the increasingly concerning projects happening in Utah every day. That is why this bill is so essential to the conservation of Utah’s public lands and wildlife. The biodiversity is becoming slimmer to none as the years go on, and with only the dominant species able to adapt to these changing conditions, it is a scary situation for all Native wildlife in the state.