Stop an oil-hauling train from running through a national forest

Utah’s Ashley National Forest is home to more than 1 million acres of pristine wildlife and countless unique creatures. But now a plan to let oil-filled trains rumble right through the forest is moving full steam ahead.

In November, the U.S. Forest Service green lit this dangerous plan (called the Uinta Basin Railway), which would let oil-hauling trains run through designated protected lands and threaten the mountain lions, bears, moose and other wildlife that live in the forest.

The good news is they haven’t started construction yet. That means you can still help derail this plan and save the Ashley National Forest.

A forest coated in fire

Today, the Ashley National Forest is home to vast mountains, pristine rivers and unique species such as the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep.

Tomorrow, it could be home to dangerous railway construction, which would uproot thousands of acres of protected lands and destroy more than 400 stream crossings.

But some of the worst destruction could begin when the trains start running. Transporting oil by train can be extremely dangerous since fracked crude oil is highly explosive — meaning an explosion could set fire to the forest, coat it with oil and poison waterways.

We need to put the brakes on this senseless plan.

A climate trainwreck waiting to happen

Even if the trains run without incident, they would still release harmful pollutants into the forest’s pristine air, threaten the wildlife, and uproot 10,000 acres of protected lands.

It’s a catastrophe for wildlife and a climate trainwreck waiting to happen: The project will quadruple fossil fuel extraction from the area at a time when our climate is already at its breaking point.

We need to stop this plan in its tracks, and if we raise our voices now, we can help prevent the destruction of the Ashley National Forest.