Utah road-lands deal illegal, GAO says

WASHINGTON — Congressional lawyers say a Utah-federal deal to speed giving counties clear title to the least-controversial roads they claim on federal lands is illegal. State and administration officials disagree, and plan to continue abiding by that deal.

"This letter will not change our approach," said Gov. Olene Walker about the new legal opinion issued by the U.S. General Accounting Office, a research arm of Congress.

Mark Pfeifle, spokesman for the Interior Department, added that his agency "strongly disagrees" with the GAO's assertion that the deal is illegal, and said it will "continue to move forward with implementation."

But Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who requested the opinion at the urging of environmental groups, said, "The Utah agreement was touted by the administration as a model. Now that it's been deemed invalid, I hope that (Interior) Secretary (Gale) Norton abandons her efforts to bypass Congress on this issue."

GAO General Counsel Anthony Gamboa wrote an opinion for Bingaman saying the deal last year between Norton and former Gov. Mike Leavitt violated a 1997 appropriations law provision that prohibited any agency from issuing final rules about recognizing "R.S. 2477 roads," unless approved first by Congress.

Ironically, that was passed by Republicans who worried that the former Clinton administration might sneak in rules voiding many county claims. Now, it is threatening the Bush administration's efforts to speed clearing titles for counties.

R.S. 2477 was a law passed in 1866 that gave counties and states the right to build roads over any federal lands not reserved for other purposes. It was repealed in 1976, but roads made under it before then continue to be valid rights of way. However, no good records were made about what roads existed in 1976.

Environmental groups and governments have battled bitterly since then as environmentalists say counties are trying to block proposed wilderness areas by claiming that even small paths and trails on federal lands are actually R.S. 2477 roads.

Under last year's agreement, the state would not claim any routes inside national parks, refuges and wilderness areas. In turn, the Interior Department agreed to recognize roads existing prior to 1976 that were traveled by trucks and cars. Also, the state could not take an existing dirt road and make it bigger.

The state submitted its first claims under the deal last month.