 | Isolated Empire Rail Planning Project
Northeastern Utah/Northwestern Colorado/Ute Indian TribeAbstractThis two state study and planning effort will address and facilitate the development of an environmentally, economically and operationally feasible short-line railroad, linking the resource rich areas of northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah to the national rail system. This planning project includes research in numerous areas including economic impact, project feasibility, community and environmental issues, engineering studies and regional resource market analysis. Northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah - known since pioneer times as the Isolated Empire - contains vast deposits of natural resources, including the world's largest deposit of soda ash and the largest deposit of phosphate in the United States. Also found within this region are substantial deposits of crude oil, natural gas, oil shale, tar sands, gilsonite, natural asphalt, limestone, bentonite, heavy clay, aggregate materials, bauxite and low-sulfur coal. Despite an obvious wealth in natural resources, the Isolated Empire suffers from a consistently high unemployment rate, which is nearly three times the national average. The 34.6% poverty rate in this area, which includes the Ute Indian Tribe, justified the region's designation as a federally recognized distressed area. The communities in this region have developed a strategic plan to address the unusual paradox of dramatically high poverty in the midst of vast potential wealth. Improved transportation is identified as the key to community preservation in this plan. The Isolated Empire rail project is the priority transportation program that will bring desperately needed jobs and overall economic development to this region, while preserving the area's natural beauty and fragile ecosystem. This is a cooperative partnership that includes federal, tribal, state, and local entities, as well as private and international organizations. Several major national and international corporations are committed to investing in industrial plants and related businesses within the Isolated Empire. This commitment, however, is contingent on the introduction of rail service to the area. This planning grant will provide for the engineering, environmental and economic studies necessary to support the successful linking of the Isolated Empire, by rail, to the rest of America. Previous Page |
