That's the plus side, according to the commissioner. On the other side, "There are undoubtedly some roads that we believe today to be valid highways ... that we may not ultimately be able to support."

Although he did not spell out what would happen then, presumably in such cases the BLM would manage the routes, closing them if the agency found they should be closed.

A criterion applied by the 10th Circuit to decide legal rights is whether the routes have been used for 10 years, prior to county road work in 1996.

That year, San Juan, Kane and Garfield counties graded 16 routes they claimed under the RS2477 law. Six of the routes were in wilderness study areas and nine in the national monument.

"Six others traverse a mesa overlooking the entrance corridor to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park," says the 10th Circuit decision, issued on Sept. 8.

The 1996 road work triggered a suit by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance in October that year. That is why the 1996 date is important in the dispute.

Kane County wants to produce solid documentation to show routes were in use for 10 years prior to the grading project.

The BLM will make determinations about rights-of-way based on that public-use standard, and not earlier rules about whether roads have been maintained by mechanical equipment, the commissioner said. Also, the 10th Circuit's public-use standard means some arguments would no longer be used, he said, such as the federal government claiming land withdrawals for coal development wiped out RS2477 rights, according to the commissioner.

He is hopeful the issue can be resolved.

"We need to get this past this roads controversy," Habbeshaw said, "and on to solutions."

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E-mail: spang@desnews.com; bau@desnews.com