A coalition of National and Utah environmental groups including SUWA, NRDC, and Sierra Club filed a petition against the proposed Coal Hollow Strip mine that would be located just west of Bryce National Park. The petition will follow a state process and was filed with the state agency Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining. Obviously, there is worry that such a blight should not be located so close to a national treasure, but there are concerns the mine could foul air, water, and cultural resources in the area. The permit allows for mining of 2 million tons of coal per year for approximately three years. The permit was approved shortly after a meeting between the mine developer—Alton Coal Development—and Utah Governor Gary Herbert. Mining operations will require up to 300 coal truck trips per day traveling 110 miles oneway from Alton to Cedar City, which could result in one truck leaving the site every seven minutes. The coal-haul route would run through several small towns along State Highway 89, including Panguitch, a town recently placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

There is legitimate concern here that such a project would not only impact area towns and Bryce National Park due to the fact that the Park receives over 1.5 million visitors every year. Unfortunately, this project is actually just a small portion of a much larger proposal to strip mine an even greater area that would create one large contiguous strip mine area that would amount to around 46 million tons of coal to be mined over 15 years. This according to SUWA attorney Steve Bloch.