Westerners eked out a 51-49 win in the Senate Wednesday seeking to reverse a Clinton administration decision they say may block access to rural byways in Utah and Alaska.
That came even though Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said he would recommend that Clinton veto the entire emergency flood and disaster relief bill to which the measure is attached.And it came despite rancorous debate that accused Westerners of fostering environmental disasters by building roads in wilderness areas and national parks and monuments.
"This is not an issue where the senators from the Western states are trying to do something improper," said Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah. "The real issue is that there are a number of roads in rural Utah that the federal government wants closed."
At issue are rights-of-way created under an 1866 law - called R.S. 2477 - that allowed counties to put roads on unreserved federal lands. It was repealed in 1976, but existing byways were allowed to continue. But no inventory of them was made.
Congress and the administration have fought for years over proposals by Babbitt to force counties now to formally apply to keep R.S. 2477 rights by proving they existed before 1976 and were used for vehicular traffic - not just livestock or horses, even though the original R.S. 2477 permitted such byways.
While Congress had blocked that, Babbitt in January issued administrative rules outlining how - until a final compromise is reached - counties could gain emergency, permanent R.S. 2477 recognition on some claims. But it would be allowed only for those byways where vehicular traffic and upgrades for them occurred.
Senators from Utah and Alaska - where the lion's share of R.S. 2477 claims are pending - howled the administration was trying to change long-time definitions of "highways," and in turn close rural byways in their states. Also, they said it is the first step of trying to federalize control of local roads.
"What is at stake here for those of us in the West is the preservation of what amounts to the primary transportation system and infrastructure of many cities and towns," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
"In many cases, these roads are the only routes to farms and ranches; they provide necessary access for school buses, emergency vehicles and mail delivery," he said.
But Sen. Dale Bumpers, D-Ark., contended Westerners were pushing the issue instead to try to block wilderness area designations by claiming R.S. 2477 "roads" - which he said often amount only to some rocks that were moved.
And he charged Westerners want to put roads in sensitive areas to foster development he said amounts to environmental disasters.
"Can you imagine anything so insane as allowing states to build roads across public lands, no matter where they may be?" he said. "You cut the weeds, it becomes a `highway.' You move a few rocks, it becomes a `highway.' "
That infuriated Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, so much that during rebuttals, he pounded his desk so hard he tipped over his water glass into his documents. He also trembled with anger as he said the byways "are our lifeblood."
Bennett said the Burr Trail is an example of why the West must fight to retain local control over local roads. He noted that when Garfield County bulldozed in Capitol Reef National Park to widen the Burr Trail (an R.S. 2477 road) by four feet on a blind curve - but still within its right of way - the federal government sued.
"It has little or nothing to do with the county maintaining this kind of right of way. What it has to do with is who's going to make the decision - and the federal government is determined it will make the decision," Bennett said.
The language blocking Babbitt's definition from being enforced is included in a bill that would provide $5.5 billion in emergency relief for flood victims, plus supplemental funding for peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Iraq.