PUBLIC LANDS: House coalition urges Interior to fight Utah's road claims
Phil Taylor, E&E reporter
Published: Thursday, July 26, 2012
A coalition of 44 House Democrats and one Republican is urging Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to vigorously fight Utah's attempt to claim state control over 12,000 roads crisscrossing federal lands.
In a letter sent Tuesday, the lawmakers thank Salazar for condemning a Utah law enacted in March calling for the "return" of tens of millions of acres of federal lands, calling the move ill-conceived and unconstitutional.
But they also warn that the state has made a separate legal push to build thousands of "highways" across primitive tracks and trails.
"Importantly, these ... claims cut across some of our most sensitive public lands, including the geologic and archaeological wonders in and surrounding Canyonlands National Park, the magnificent Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and lands recently protected in the Washington County wilderness," said the letter signed by Democratic Reps. Maurice Hinchey of New York, Raúl Grijalva of Arizona and Rush Holt of New Jersey; Rep. Timothy Johnson (R-Ill.); and others who have sponsoredH.R. 1916, a bill to designate million of acres of new wilderness in Utah.
"We urge you to make the vigorous defense of these iconic public lands," the lawmakers wrote.
Utah has said it has no intention of building highways but would like to preserve access across public lands for its residents.
The state in May filed more than a dozen lawsuits under a Civil War-era statute known as R.S. 2477, which, while repealed in 1976, allows local governments to claim jurisdiction over roads if they can prove they have been in continuous use.
"Despite what our critics say, these roads do go somewhere, and we need to make sure they are safe enough to provide access for Utah families and resources," said John Swallow, the state's chief deputy attorney general.
Utah and its counties have long argued that roads are crucial conduits for local residents and that they should not have to obtain permission for motorized access or to perform maintenance or upgrades.
Still, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which is backing H.R. 1916, has called the lawsuits a "back-door attack" on parks and wilderness and said they will cost Utah millions of taxpayer dollars to prove in court (Greenwire, April 24).
"The congressmen and women who signed the letter have sent a clear signal -- they see Governor [Gary] Herbert's (R) policies as an attack on lands owned and managed for the benefit of all Americans and will ensure that they are safeguarded as America's natural heritage in the face of this threat," said Heidi McIntosh, SUWA's XXXociate director. "Governor Herbert may well be surprised to learn how huge, and hugely expensive, this fight will be."
But Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, defended his state's claim over federal lands and said access has been restricted for too long.
"Areas where people have been able to go to hunt and fish in the past are being closed down arbitrarily, and obviously people get upset about that kind of situation," he said. "Anyone who recreates in Utah would get the same frustration when they see a boulder or a gate that's been put up mysteriously that hasn't been there for the past 40 years."
