There's apparently no talking through the issue of whether counties are guaranteed ownership of traditional thoroughfares on land set aside by the Department of Interior.
By enacting a management plan for the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt effectively closes hundreds of miles of dirt roads and trails within the monument -- roads Kane and Garfield counties maintain belong to them. Furthermore, the counties contend that the Bureau of Land Management has no legal authority to close them. The counties plan to take the federal government to court. While the state will not initiate its own lawsuit, it will spend state tax dollars to support any county's legal challenge of the management plan.Under normal circumstances, the state should steer clear of the affairs of local governments. Given that there are thousands of the so-called R.S.2477 roads in Utah, it makes no sense to litigate each of them. Since there is a profound state interest to resolve this issue, using state funds to help bankroll a lawsuit is appropriate.
Before the counties enter what will undoubtedly be a protracted and expensive lawsuit, they should exhaust every conceivable opportunity to settle this matter. That has been Leavitt's counsel and it is, indeed, sage advice.
For instance, Leavitt is confident that the Clinton administration will make concessions on other state and local concerns about the monument management plan: restrictions on filming movies and commercials in the monument; restrictions on developing water for wildlife inside the monument and communities outside the monument; and restrictions on the state's jurisdiction to manage all wildlife issues in the monument, including predator control.
The roads issue, however, remains at a stalemate.
There comes a time in such disputes that a third party needs to intervene. Placing the matter before the judicial system will help remove it from the highly charged political arena, where special interests often rule the day. In the legal venue, judges and juries are charged to base their decisions according to matters of law and evidence. The hope is that cooler heads will prevail.
It could be a while before either Kane or Garfield counties could file a lawsuit over the monument management plan because each would need to demonstrate local rights were adversely impacted by the plan.
The problem is, taking the matter to court will not ensure a speedy resolution. Evidence Garfield County's now 10-year-old court fight over its authority to maintain one disputed road, the Burr Trail. Any lawsuit will be a test of patience, but a resolution of the R.S.2477 roads dispute is long overdue.