In Brief: Behind closed doors and without seeking input from Congress or the public, the Department of Interior has prepared a new process for approving old claims to some real and fake highways on federal lands across the West, under an antiquated loophole known as RS 2477.

Granite Mountains Wilderness Area in Mojave National Preserve

Photo by Pat Flanagan, CA Wilderness Coalition

Outgoing Secretary Norton's Land Giveaway

Just days before leaving office, Former Secretary Norton released a misguided policy based on the recent 10th circuit decision. If implemented successfully, her policy will make it easier for those who want to turn hiking trails and jeep tracks into highways all across the West.

Removing federal protections from these routes could have major consequences throughout the West. National parks, wildlife refuges, national monuments, wilderness areas, conservation areas, and other sensitive federal lands could have more road development and damaging off-road vehicle use under the new scheme. For example:

In Utah's Canyonlands National Park, San Juan County is claiming that a streambed called Salt Creek is a highway under the loophole. The National Park Service considers the area rich in cultural artifacts and an important water source for the region.

The state of Utah submitted a map to the Interior Department in 2000, claiming that 100,000 miles of routes, including every trail in Zion National Park and routes across every designated wilderness in the state, are highways under RS 2477.

In California, San Bernardino County has claimed more than 5, 000 miles of highways crisscrossing public lands, including more than 2,500 miles in the Mojave National Preserve, over 700 of which are within designated wilderness. The great majority of these routes are ranch trails, cow paths, and other faint non-highway routes.

Moffat County, Colorado has claimed that 240 miles of trails through Dinosaur National Monument, including part of the Yampa River itself, are highways.

The state of Alaska has asserted 164 separate routes through 14 Alaska national parks, totaling almost 3,000 miles. A 1993 National Park Service report concluded that the impact of these claims "could be devastating." The state also claims over 3,700 miles of potential highways and trails through 15 national wildlife refuges, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Many of these routes are nothing more than dog sled trails or old horse paths.

Earthjustice is working hard to convince Congress to oppose this misguided proposal, and to stop the Interior Department from handing over these federal lands to states and counties that do not have the management authority or mandated responsibility to ensure our public lands, wildlife habitat, and other natural and cultural resources remain protected.

Paria River in southern Utah's Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument

Background

Adopted in 1866, a year after the end of the Civil War, Revised Statute 2477 (RS 2477) was originally intended to ensure that local governments could invest in highway construction across public lands without fear of being labeled trespassers. In 1976, Congress repealed RS 2477 and replaced it with an updated process to determine reasonable access to public lands.

But some states and counties across the West have been claiming that roads, off-road vehicle routes, cattle tracks, and streambeds are technically highways under RS 2477, and for five years the Bush administration has been trying to figure out how to legitimize these claims.

Learn more about the great highway robbery here