Uinta Basin Railway Put On Pause

(Ashley National Forest, UT) — The United States Forest Service has withdrawn its permission to build rail road tracks in Ashley National Forest. This comes after a US Appeals court found that the Surface Transportation Board rushed through the environmental impact statements. The 12 miles of track was a part of the planned Uinta Basin Railway that would connect Utah to the broader rail network. Connecting the railways would triple the Uinta Basin’s oil exports while making it easier to get Utah’s waxy crude oil to refineries on the Gulf Coast. Experts worry of the consequences of building the railway close to the Colorado River and local communities.