Is Growing Saint George, Utah The New Palm Springs?

Is Growing Saint George, Utah The New Palm Springs?
by: Bob Therrien

Saint George, Utah is a short ride up Interstate 15 from Las Vegas, NV. It is a wonderful base of operations for your Adventure into the American Southwest! It is one of the fastest growing communities in the United States. It’s been called the new Palm Springs!

Just under two hours drive from Las Vegas, Nevada is another fast growing community. Saint George has an elevation of 2,880 feet above sea level. St. George has an average annual temperature of 59.9° F with summer temperatures well into the 100s. Palm trees and red rock cliffs are the norm in Saint George along with all the convenience of a city of 100 thousand.

Saint George is home to Red Cliffs Desert Preserve a 62,000-acre scenic wildlife reserve set aside to protect the desert tortoise and other rare and sensitive plants and animals Here is where three great ecosystems merge, the Mojave Desert, the Great Basin, and the Colorado Plateau, Red Cliffs Reserve is biologically rich with an array of animals and plants rarely seen in one place. It contains the most northern populations of the desert tortoise, Gila monster, sidewinder rattlesnake, and chuckwalla - reptiles typically associated with hotter and more southerly deserts, like the Mojave.

Saint George is very close to Zion National Park. Biking at Gooseberry Mesa, ATV’s at Coral Pink Sand Dunes are close too, with Dixie National Forest, Snow Canyon, and Joshua tree forest, all in the area. Southern Utah and all it has to offer can be reached from here. If you love golf, you’ll find it here as well as shopping!

Saint George, Utah is located in Washington County. There is lots of controversy about the proposed public lands legislation in the United States Senate. The bill titled S.3636 considers a land swap of up to 24,000 acres. This wilderness area is part of the zionmojave outdoors.

This draft bill would designate more than 219,000 acres as wilderness, preserve utility corridors, create an off-road trail system, develop a new conservation area, protect 170 miles of the Virgin River, and sell to the highest bidder up to 25,000 acres of public land at fair market value. As with any change, many people are concerned about the wording of the bill and the future rights for people to use the outdoor lands that they have had access to for years. Saint George has been growing, fast for the past few years and there is a concern about the developers who would buy the land up for bid. Controlling urban sprawl in this area is a concern to many. So much of Southern Utah is an adventure outdoor wilderness area, not many people want to see changes take place that would restrict their access.

The bill also creates utility corridors and Southern Utah is awaiting the Lake Powell Pipeline. The pipeline legislation was signed into law in May of 2006. In order to meet the water demands of an ever-growing population in Southern Utah, Washington, Kane and Iron counties are pursuing a pipeline that would run from Lake Powell to Sand Hollow Reservoir. These 158 miles of pipeline would bring 70,000 acre feet of water to Washington County, 10,000 acre feet to Kane County and 20,000 acre feet to Iron County. The pipeline would most likely cost $494 million or more in current dollars.

The Lake Powell Pipeline would allow Utah to tap into its unused portion of the Upper Colorado River water, which was defined in the 1922 Colorado River Compact. The Compact divides the river basin into two areas: the Upper Colorado (comprising Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) and the Lower Basin (comprising Nevada, Arizona and California). Currently Utah is using 74 percent of its annual allocation of 1,369,000 acre feet.

There’s a lot going on here, and you’ll enjoy your Saint George tours.

About The Author
Bob Therrien is a travel writer and has traveled all over North America. He currently operates the website at Saint George Tours.