| |
2005: UTAH PUSHES FOUR ROUTES, BUT WHERE'S
THE EVIDENCE? 2005 saw the State of Utah
submitting applications for six routes as RS 2477 rights of way under
the arguably illegal
Disclaimer Rule and the Interior Department's
Memorandum of Understanding,
and
more, which was supposed to address
“indisputable” county highways. But the state apparently hasn't
learned a lot from its failed attempt to have BLM recognize the Weiss
Highway (see below), continuing to rely on little to no evidence to
support its claims. For two claims submitted in April 2005--for Alexa
Lane and the Snake Pass route in Millard County--Utah couldn’t even
dig up aerial photos from before 1976, the date by which the state has
to show highway construction took place. Instead, they rely almost
exclusively on decades-old memories that often conflict with other
evidence. See conservationists'
August 5 letter
and some of the maps and photos conservationists presented to BLM,
including:
-
Excerpts of Utah's official 1937 highway map of Millard County,
showing no sign of the Snake Pass route, and only a little spur of
the Alexa Lane route, despite the fact that some of Utah's
old-timers allege both routes had been used for years by the
mid-1930s.
-
A comparison of aerial photos taken in 1978 and the
mid 1990s for both the
Alexa Lane
and
Snake Pass
claims, showing that while the route looks very defined in the
1990s, it sure didn't in 1978.
-
A Civilian
Conservation Corps map from 1936, showing that at least part of
the Alexa Lane map was built by the CCC (not the County), and
showing other CCC structures along the route, indicating the CCC
built the rest of the route as well.
Read conservationists' press release and an August 11, 2005
Salt Lake
Tribune story.
On September 7, 2005, citing the objections lodged by Earthjustice for
The Wilderness Society, the Wild Utah Project, and the Southern Utah
Wilderness Alliance, the deputy director of the Bureau of Land
Management for Utah wrote to the Utah attorney general requesting
various kinds of documentary evidence and testimony to bolster the
state's claim to the six routes. Read the
letter, the conservation groups'
press release, a
story in the Deseret News,
and another in the
Salt Lake
Tribune.
Conservationists also found plenty to question with
four February applications, too. See their
90-page comment letter, a conservationist
press release, and a
Salt Lake
Tribune article concerning the claims. See some of the maps
and photos conservationists presented to BLM, including:
2004: UTAH’S FIRST, FLAWED DISCLAIMER
RULE CLAIM FALLS FLAT
In January 2004, Utah submitted its first application for a disclaimer
for a alleged R.S. 2477 highway.
The
state made a bad choice to make their case that the disclaimer rule
and the Interior Department's "Memorandum of Understanding" would
address “indisputable” county highways.
Read comments submitted by Earthjustice on behalf of The
Wilderness Society, May 2004. The comments show what Utah failed to
mention in claiming this route as a county highway-that the road was
constructed by the federal Civilian Conservation Corps in the late
1930s to assist ranchers with federal grazing permits at the behest of
the Interior Department’s “Division of Grazing” (now BLM). In other
words, this alleged county road was built by federal government, with
federal labor and federal funds, over federal lands to serve a federal
purpose.
See
also comments filed on the application by the
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and the
Sierra Club. Read documents
showing the CCCs role--and showing Utah's lack of evidence for their
claim. Read a Salt Lake Tribune account
describing the
environmentalists' comments titled, "Road ownership test case hits a
bump."
Forced to admit
that the Weiss Highway was and should remain a federal highway, Utah
backed down in September 2004, withdrawing their request for a
disclaimer.
Read their
withdrawal letter, a
conservationist press release on the withdrawal and a
Salt Lake Tribune story.
Read a thorough report on
the entire Weiss Highway saga from High Country News, December 20,
2004. |
Utah claims that the Snake Pass route - shown here with plants growing
down the middle - as an important "constructed highway." Photo © Jeff
Kessler, 2005. Used by permission.
One of Utah's claimed important 'constructed highways' -- the Horse
Valley route -- showing well maintained sagebrush running down the
middle. Photo © Jeff Kessler, 2005. Used by permission. |
