Panel to discuss future of Moe's Valley to be held at St. George Town Hall tonight

ST. GEORGE — The future of the greater Moe's Valley area will be the topic of a panel discussion at St. George Town Hall Wednesday, and event organizers say the goal is not to "rehash" things that are out of their control.

"Unfortunately, I feel like influencing the BLM or any court decisions that will be made is out of the public's hands now," said outdoor recreation activist and Desert Rat manager Supe Lillywhite. "Some judge in Washington, D.C., will decide how all that plays out. What the public can do is continue to encourage all the officials involved to say that when the decision by the court comes down, that local officials still have a hand in how this plays out."

The area is part of Zone 6 and sits on a 6,800-acre section of land west of St. George that was incorporated into the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. It is home to the federally protected Mojave desert tortoise and provides open space for outdoor recreation, including mountain biking, hiking, rock climbing and horseback riding.

The greater Moe's Valley area is part of conservation land established as part of a deal made in connection with the construction of the Northern Corridor Highway connecting Washington and Red Hills Parkway. Those plans were suspended in March, with a federal judge granting a preliminary injunction to pause the project, pending court action. Half of Zone 6 consists of Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA), which are now at risk of being sold to developers.

"If the Northern Corridor is approved, and the land stays in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve Zone 6, then we would hope that there would still be a push to make it a state park for it to be permanently protected," Lillywhite told KSL. "If the decision goes against the Northern Corridor, then SITLA said if that happens, that they are going to start seeking proposals to develop immediately. If it goes that way, let's talk about what happens and what city and county officials can do, and what we as a public can do and what SITLA can do to maintain as many trails and recreational areas and habitats as possible."

Lillywhite said that there will be many influential people on tonight's Town Hall panel, including SITLA's Kyle Pasley, county commissioners Adam Snow, Victor Iverson and Gil Almquist, representatives from the Southern Utah Bicycle Alliance, as well as members of the Southern Utah Homebuilders Association. There will also be city council members available to talk to after the meeting.

"Unfortunately, Conserve Southwest Utah opted out of the meeting, so they will not be on the panel," he said.

Lillywhite acknowledged that there are still a lot of heated feelings, and there are many who are still learning about what's going on, but he hopes that the meeting Wednesday night will serve as a positive interaction between the public and key stakeholders.

"A lot of the meetings thus far seem to have focused on how the greater Moe's Valley area got into the situation that it's in," he said. "That has become such a heated thing. It's wrapped up in a lawsuit. Everybody's angry at each other about it.

"The biggest goal for tonight is to hear the influential people on the panel talk about the future of the greater Moe's valley area and what they realistically think might happen out there, and not have this devolve into another shouting match about the legal arguments involved and how the Northern Corridor Zone 6 swap is going to play out in court."

The meeting will start at 5:30 p.m. at St. George Town Hall, 61 S. Main in St. George.

"We hope St. George keeps its reputation for being an amazing place to live because it's so easy to access world-class recreation," he said.

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