"The corridors can draw damaging development to areas where there might have only been a power line before," said Nada Culver of the Wilderness Society, who analyzed the corridors. "There are no exceptions for places already identified for protection, such as wilderness, wildlife refuges, parks and historical sites. This process will amend more than 160 land-use plans and permit projects with lesser reviews."

Thomas said there is a real threat that a power tower or an above-ground pipeline could be built within these proposed corridors, permanently altering the landscape.

"It would not look like an undeveloped landscape anymore," she said, adding that in some instances, rock would need to be removed, which could never be replaced.

"On a map, these look like clean, sterile lines going from point A to point B," Thomas said, "You get on the ground, and it's not like that. There are canyons in the way, rivers, pueblo sites, national parks, national monuments, people's favorite hiking and hunting areas."

Heather Feeney of the federal Bureau of Land Management, one of the lead agencies involved, said it was impossible to avoid environmentally sensitive areas altogether.

By designating corridors, she said, the government hoped to "bundle future projects so they're not totally scattered across the landscape."

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Contributing: Associated Press.
E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com