Suit over road-grading in southern Utah is dismissed

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by two environmental groups over road ownership, apparently ending a court case that began 10 years ago.

In 1996, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and the Sierra Club sued to challenge the right of San Juan, Kane and Garfield counties to grade 16 routes on federal land. The counties said the routes were established under Revised Statute 2477, an 1866 mining law that allowed roads on public land. RS 2477 was repealed by a 1976 federal law, but the validity of routes already established was recognized.

Six of the routes were in wilderness study areas, nine in the then-new Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and the last in an area that was being reviewed for wilderness suitability. Environmentalists claimed the routes were not roads at all, but cattle trails, streambeds and off-road vehicle tracks.

Initially, the conservationists won a victory in federal court. In 2004, U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell ruled in SUWA's favor, saying the counties did not have RS 2477 rights of way on 15 of the roads and had exceeded rights on the 16, according to a brief filed by the state.

The order dismissed SUWA's remaining claims with prejudice, meaning they could not be filed again. Later, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver "effectually vacated" Campbell's order. The court also established guidelines in the matter.

"The big dispute was whether federal or state law applied," said SUWA spokeswoman Heidi McIntosh.

The circuit court upheld the idea that the state law applies. Utah's state rules recognize as a road a route that had continuous use for 10 years before 1976.

In March, the Bureau of Land Management dropped its claims against the counties. "There was no settlement. The BLM just walked away," McIntosh said.

The federal government and the counties decided to use the 10th Circuit's guidelines to work on agreements, said Shawn T. Welch, attorney for San Juan County. SUWA attempted to restart litigation, but Jenkins has now ruled that the case is dismissed.

The federal government and counties "thought it's better to devote their resources to going forward, rather than going back to argue what happened 10 years ago," Welch said.

Fights over RS 2477 claims aren't over, he said, "but we think there'll be fewer controversies going forward."

Welch added, "I do think it's a good step, and I think it's a good thing to give it a fresh start after the 10th Circuit decision."

McIntosh also said this is not the end of the debate. "There are plenty of cases where RS 2477 claims and their impacts on pristine public lands will be examined," she said.

In this case, the BLM dropped claims against the counties and the case could not move forward without the federal agency, according to McIntosh.

---

E-mail: bau@desnews.com