Contact: Dan Schroeder, Ogden Group Sierra Club, 801-393-4603
Weber County officials are claiming that more than a hundred highways run through the county's National Forest lands.
In fact, most of these "highways" are no more than narrow foot trails. Many of them are hiking routes where little or no vestige of a path can be seen. Several of the "highways" are existing dirt roads through the National Forest, but only one, State Route 226 to Snow Basin, is what most people would call a highway.
The County's list of highways was compiled at taxpayer expense, as part of a lawsuit involving more than 5000 routes throughout federal lands in Utah. The lawsuit is to be filed in U.S. District Court under a provision of the 1866 Mining Act, known as RS 2477. The provision reads in full, "The right-of-way for the construction of highways over public lands, not reserved for public uses, is hereby granted."
The 1866 Mining Act was repealed by Congress in 1976, but highways that were constructed before that time were to remain open to the public. Now, politicians in Utah and elsewhere in the west are trying to use RS 2477 as a way to open virtually all Federal lands to motorized access. If they are successful, it would be impossible to designate any land containing a trail as official wilderness, or to manage lands for nonmotorized recreation.
Until recently, most of Utah's right-of-way claims have been in the southern deserts; many of these are abandoned prospectors' trails that haven't been used in decades. On June 24, however, the Ogden Standard-Examiner reported that Weber County would be adding claims to the lawsuit, in response to an invitation from the state attorney general's office.
Ogden Sierra Club officials immediately contacted the county surveyor's office, asking to see the list of local RS 2477 claims. After more than two weeks of red tape, they were finally allowed to view the list on Wednesday, July 12.
"I could barely keep myself from laughing," said Ogden Sierra Club Chair Dan Schroeder. "They're claiming a right-of-way for every dotted line on the map, and for dozens of other routes that aren't even dotted lines. Some of the more familiar examples would be the Indian Trail, Hidden Valley Trail, and Beus Trail above the Ogden east bench. If you've ever hiked the Hidden Valley Trail, you know that it's not a highway."
Other trails in the list include the Skyline Trail over Lewis Peak and Ben Lomond, the Wheeler Creek trail system around Snow Basin, and numerous trails in the Causey Reservoir area. Among the pathless routes are a high traverse of the cliffs above Snowbasin ski area, a complete circumnavigation of Causey Reservoir, and a climb through dense oak brush from above 9th Street to the top of Lewis Peak. "I've bushwhacked that route," said Schroeder. "To get through unscathed, you need heavy clothes, gloves, and eye protection."
About a quarter of the routes in the county's list are actual roads, though many of these are accessible only to high-clearance vehicles. Some of them, such as the Snowbasin ski area maintenance roads, are currently closed to private motor vehicles. Although the lawsuit has been called a fight against federal efforts to close roads, there is no such federal effort in Weber County. Nor has the Sierra Club ever proposed closing any currently open roads through federal land in the county.
Although it is unlikely that the counties of Utah will prevail in court, the lawsuit will still cost Utah taxpayers millions of dollars. To establish a valid RS 2477 claim, a county must document that a constructed highway exists and was in continuous use for at least ten years before 1976. For a claim in a National Forest, the county must also prove that the highway was constructed before the National Forest was established, since the establishment of a National Forest is generally considered a reservation "for public uses" under RS 2477. The research and field work needed to document all of the state's 5000 right-of-way claims will be enormous.
Why are our political leaders, including Governor Leavitt, our Congressional delegation, the legislature, and our County Commissioners, willing to spend taxpayer dollars on this frivolous lawsuit? "Probably as a symbolic gesture against wilderness, to appease the tiny minority of citizens who want to drive their trucks over every square inch of public land," speculates Schroeder. "They won't stand a chance in court, but meanwhile, we're all paying."
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