With the Surface Transportation Board announcing their final approval of the Uinta Basin Railway, there are just a few remaining steps for the project to get shovels in the ground. Among them is final approval from the Forest Service as a portion of the railway will cross forest system lands. The Forest Service issued a draft Record of Decision offering tentative approval on November 3rd that is now in the comment period. Addressing a request from the Center for Biological Diversity as to why the 2001 Roadless Rule doesn’t prohibit the construction of rail on forest system lands, Forest Service Chief Randy Moore offered the following explanation: “The Forest Supervisor has authority to permit transportation systems on NFS lands. The Forest Supervisor determined the proposed use of the project is in the public interest and supports President Joseph R. Biden’s policies outlined in Executive Order 14008 to rebuild our infrastructure for a sustainable economy. The railway will bring economic growth to Utah’s rural, urban, and Tribal communities, as products move quicker and safer by railway than by tractor-trailers on a highway. The 2001 Roadless Rule establishes prohibitions on road construction, road re-construction, and timber harvesting on inventoried roadless areas on NFS lands. By definition, a railway does not constitute a road under the Roadless Rule. Additionally, the proposal does not include the creation of any roads in the inventoried roadless area.” For those in support of the Uinta Basin Railway, this is considered more good news that the rail is close to becoming a reality.
