Utah to claim 20 roads

The state has thrown down a glove in its fight over dirt roads. But environmentalists won't likely pick a fight. At least not this time.

Gov. Mike Leavitt Wednesday unveiled a list of 20 roads crisscrossing federal land on which the state intends to seek ownership.

"These roads are indisputably roads," Leavitt said. "Every single road being submitted existed before 1976, can be traveled by car or truck and is not in a national park, wilderness area, wilderness study area or fish and wildlife refuge."

Leavitt's catalogue of roads is the first volley in what is expected to be a litany of future fights over tens of thousands of dirt roads across federal lands — so-called "R.S. 2477" roads, in reference to an old mining statute that allowed states and counties to claim rights of way across federal lands. The law was repealed in 1976, but any road in place prior to that time would still qualify as a local right of way under the old law.

Environmentalists are suspicious of some of the claims but aren't likely to have any heartburn over the first 20.

"It was our expectation the state would at least start off with roads where there would be no controversy," said Scott Groene, an attorney with Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

The roads announced Wednesday are the result of an $8 million, three-year process working with counties to record, map and gather historical data to offer proof the roads existed prior to 1976 and thereby belong to the state, not the federal government.

It is one of a few initiatives Leavitt hopes to wrap up before he resigns as governor and takes the helm as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

"It's been important to me to get these roads submitted before my services conclude," Leavitt said.

Lt. Gov. Olene Walker, who will soon become governor, pledged to continue pursuing road ownership claims.

"I guarantee we will continue to work hard in my administration," she said. "It's an ongoing process that will take time."

Many of the 20 roads are in southwestern Utah, like Alexa Lane, Dowdell Canyon and Snake Pass roads in Millard County. They are well-traveled routes, used by ranchers to access their grazing allotments and by recreationists and hunters.