Governor Herbert is crowing today about a decision by a trial court judge that granted Kane County and the state of Utah title to 12 of 15 road claims that had been in dispute with the U.S. Department of Interior.

While the Governor trumpets this small ideological victory as a major accomplishment, however, Utah taxpayers should be reminded that they are paying a huge legal bill so the state can claim a mere 89 miles of so-called “roads” — some of which look like this:

The real goal of the Governor is to gain control over federal public lands and to prevent these lands from gaining wilderness protection.

And how much has the state of Utah spent to date to win this first round – with an appeal of this decision surely coming?  In a similar years-long battle in San Juan County, the state of Utah and the county spent more than a million dollars litigating their claim to a route in Canyonlands National Park — and ultimately lost.

Governor Herbert and various Utah counties have filed 29 additional lawsuits claiming more than 14,000 rights of way totaling nearly 35,000 miles of dirt trails and routes on public lands.

89 miles down. Approximately 34,911 miles and millions of taxpayer dollars to go. This, Governor Herbert insists, is a major accomplishment.

But in truth, yesterday’s decision is but the first round in a long game in which Governor Herbert is willing to wager the future of Utah’s national parks and monuments — as well as Utah’s iconic  wilderness landscapes — in order to control their fate. The clear losers, however, are the Utah taxpayers who are footing the bill for Governor Herbert’s ongoing ideological land grab.

We wrote on Wednesday about attempts by the Herbert administration to “soft sell” their radical, two front war on federal public lands. And sure enough, as if on cue, Lt. Governor Greg Bell appears today with an opinion piece at Utah Policy Daily that tries to paint Gov. Herbert’s radical agenda as a “balanced, win-win approach”:

We believe the effort launched earlier this year in Utah represents a balanced approach. Our approach is based on the conviction that development and environmental stewardship are synergistic and not mutually exclusive. Governor Herbert signed HB148, the Public Lands Transfer Act, in an earnest and timely effort to generate cooperative, constructive dialogue with the federal government about gaining more say in how Utah’s public lands are managed.

Utah’s public lands effort is based on a commitment to facilitating a balanced, federal-state win-win situation. Despite the media myths to the contrary, there is no multi-million-dollar lawsuit to take over all federal lands in Utah. Rather, Utah is investing the time, resources and effort required by the scope of such a Legislative decision surrounding State control of public lands within its borders.

Lt. Gov. Bell writes that “there is no multi-million-dollar lawsuit to take over all federal lands in Utah.” The fact is, the state of Utah, at Governor Herbert’s direction, filed 22 lawsuits this spring against the United States Government seeking to gain control of tens of thousands of RS2477 claims, including those in National Parks, National Monuments, and Wilderness Study Areas. If a court were to accept Utah’s argument that these R.S. 2477 claims –many of which are no more than cow paths, old seismic lines, dry stream beds, ORV tracks and hiking trails – are actually “highways” under this antiquated law, it would nullify or diminish longstanding protection for national parks, wilderness areas and other scenic landscapes, and seriously disrupt the ability of professional land managers to manage federal lands in Utah.

And the cost of these lawsuits? Surely they will be in the “multi-millions” of dollars, as San Juan County and the state of Utah have already spent more than a million dollars losing their battle to disrupt the ability of the National Park Service to manage off road vehicle use in Salt Creek in Canyonlands National Park. The Herbert administration is willing to argue their intention of opening up these federal lands to off-road vehicle use in front of a judge in federal court; the question is, why do they feel the need to obfuscate that same intention in the court of public opinion?

September/October 2012

Here’s what is happening this month with the redrock:
1. Urge the BLM to deny an ATV route in Indian Creek!
2. We will miss retiring redrock champ Rep. Maurice Hinchey.
3. Utah appeals Salt Creek right-of-way claim.
4. Great times at the 2012 SUWA Roundup!
5. Celebrate Cedar Mesa on November 10.

 

New ATV route threatens Indian Creek

The Indian Creek area, located on the east side of Canyonlands National Park, south of Moab, Utah, is famous for its dramatic and sheer Wingate Sandstone cliffs, and is an internationally-known and treasured rock climbing destination. 

Location of Indian Creek proposed ATV right-of-way. Copyright Liz Thomas/SUWA.

Last December we notified you of San Juan County’s request for a right-of-way to construct a new ATV trail in this scenic area.  You told the BLM your concerns and the agency decided to “revise” its Environmental Assessment (EA).  Unfortunately, the BLM’s revised EA is no better than its initial document. The revised EA merely adds an alternative “alignment” for the proposed right-of-way, but fails to actually analyze the impacts of the right-of-way and ATV route to the area’s natural resources and to quiet recreational users.  The new alignment for the right-of-way and ATV route is similar to the initial alignment.  Both alignments for the proposed ATV route cross undeveloped, scenic lands that are in the Upper Indian Creek proposed wilderness area.  ATV use
on a route constructed in this right-of-way would be a significant conflict with other recreational uses of the area.

There are hundreds of miles of existing off-road vehicle routes that currently provide vehicle access and recreational opportunities in the Indian Creek area; there is simply no compelling need for the construction of a new ATV route.

TAKE ACTION: Please tell BLM, by October 5, 2012, not to grant a right-of-way for an unnecessary ATV route in the Indian Creek area. 

Read more about this issue on our blog by clicking here.

Visit greatercanyonlands.org to help protect Indian Creek and the rest of the Greater Canyonlands region.

 

Rep. Maurice Hinchey: A tireless environmental champion

Back in January, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), the lead House sponsor of American’s Red Rock Wilderness Act for almost twenty years, announced that he would be retiring at the end of this term.  Earlier in September, SUWA and our partners in the conservation community took the opportunity to celebrate Rep. Hinchey’s tireless advocacy for Utah wilderness and other environmental causes.  In this video, Rep. Hinchey’s House colleagues, staff, and others look back on all that he has accomplished in his career for the environment:

You can thank Congressman Hinchey for his decades of work on behalf of Utah’s redrock wilderness by writing a note on his Facebook page, tweeting thanks to @mauricehinchey or writing a letter to his DC office at:

Representative Maurice Hinchey
2431 Rayburn House Office Building
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

 

Salt Creek case goes back to court

The federal Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on September 19 in a case involving an alleged highway right-of-way located in Salt Creek, an ecologically critical streambed in Canyonlands National
Park.  The National Park Service had closed the stream to jeep use in 2005 due to the water pollution, crushed vegetation, degraded wildlife habitat and other impacts caused by vehicle use.  San Juan County and the State of Utah sued the Park Service, arguing that the park could not close the streambed to jeeps because it  was a county and state highway.  The trial court ruled that the few travelers who had ventured up the stream before Canyonlands became a national park in 1964 did not transform the creek into a “highway” under federal law.

The appeal is significant because the appeals court may rule on key issues that will govern how and whether states and counties can establish highway rights-of-way across all types of federal public lands under a now repealed law commonly known as “R.S. 2477.”  Congress enacted the law in 1866 as a way to facilitate the orderly settlement and development of the West and to give lasting recognition to existing highways; it repealed the law in 1976, subject to valid existing rights.  Now the State of Utah is attempting to stretch the law beyond Congress’s original intent in an effort to undermine federal ownership, management and conservation of national parks and other sensitive federal lands.

Read more by clicking here.

 

A glorious sunny weekend in the San Rafael Swell

It was a glorious sunny weekend in the San Rafael Swell as about 85 wilderness supporters gathered from Sept. 21-23 for this year’s SUWA Roundup.

Every year we meet interesting, passionate, committed wilderness supporters at the SUWA Roundup and this year was no exception.  We thank them for making the long journey to Hidden Splendor, for participating in our grassroots strategy discussion on Sunday, and for speaking out year after year for the protection of Utah’s magnificent wild places.  We look forward to meeting even more of our amazing members and activists at next year’s Roundup!

Read more and view photos from the weekend by clicking here.

 

Celebrate Cedar Mesa!

Join Friends of Cedar Mesa in celebration of Cedar Mesa, a half million acres of scenic grace and prehistoric wonder in the heart of southeast Utah.

While renowned throughout the world for its singular beauty and wealth of Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings and rock art, Cedar Mesa also holds a special place in the cultural heritage of present-day Ute, Paiute, Navajo, Pueblo and Anglo communities, the latter including the Mormon settlers of southeastern Utah. Visitors from the region and all parts of the globe are increasingly making Cedar Mesa part of their personal histories as well, thanks to an American system of public lands
that manages such venerated places for all to enjoy.

This year’s symposium presents the intriguing findings of new archaeological and historical research, and explores the landscape from a range of diverse perspectives.

The Celebrate Cedar Mesa symposium, sponsored by Friends of Cedar Mesa, takes place all day Saturday, November 10, at the Blanding Arts and Events Center on the Utah State University branch campus in Blanding, Utah. 

For more information and updates, please visit cedarmesafriends.org.

 

Sign the petition to protect Greater Canyonlands

Contacts:
Ted Zukoski, Earthjustice, 303.996.9622
Heidi McIntosh, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.541.5833

Case is Part of Utah’s Campaign to Transform Primitive Trails on Federal Lands into Highways

DENVER – The federal Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on Wednesday morning in a case involving an alleged highway right of way located in an ecologically critical streambed in Canyonlands National Park.  The National Park Service had closed the stream to jeep use in 2005 due to the water pollution, crushed vegetation, degraded wildlife habitat and other impacts caused by vehicle use.  San Juan County and the State of Utah sued the Park Service, arguing that the Park could not close the streambed to jeeps because it  was a county and state highway.  The trial court ruled that the few travelers who had ventured up the stream before Canyonlands became a national park in 1964 did not transform the creek into a “highway” under federal law.

The appeal is significant because the appeals court may rule on key issues that will govern how and whether states and counties can establish highway rights of way across all types of federal public lands under a now repealed law commonly known as “R.S. 2477.”  Congress enacted the law in 1866 as a way to facilitate the orderly settlement and development of the West and to give lasting recognition to existing highways; it repealed the law in 1976, subject to valid existing rights.  Now the State of Utah is attempting to stretch the law beyond Congress’s original intent in an effort to undermine federal ownership, management and conservation of national parks and other sensitive federal lands.

Conservation group the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and the non-profit environmental law firm Earthjustice filed a friend-of-the-court brief earlier this year asking the appeals court to reject Utah’s extreme arguments.  Grand Canyon Trust, The Wilderness Society, Sierra Club, and the National Parks Conservation Association joined the brief.

Heidi McIntosh, associate director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, explained:  “The state’s misguided effort to overlay some of Utah’s most beautiful and remote landscapes with a spiderweb of roads will be devastating to the health, scenery and quiet of unique natural treasures like Salt Creek.  And at a cost of over $1 million in attorneys’ fees, it’s a financial boondoggle to boot.”

Earthjustice attorney Ted Zukoski added:  “Salt Creek is a rare desert gem, a stream bursting with life, and the area with the highest recorded density of archeological sites – including ancient cliff dwelling – in Canyonlands.  Turning this creek into a highway would not only degrade one of America’s iconic national parks, it would be wrong as a matter of law.”

This appeal is an early legal salvo in the State of Utah’s campaign to gain judicial recognition of approximately 15,000 highway rights of across federal public land, including areas that have been protected from roads and off-road vehicle use for years.  These remarkably scenic lands include Utah’s awe-inspiring  national parks, wilderness areas, wilderness study areas, national wildlife refuges, the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Dinosaur National Monument and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.  The State of Utah and a number of Utah counties filed twenty two lawsuits in May 2012 that would blanket the state with about 15,000 thousand “highways,” many of which are actually faint trails, cow paths, streambeds and long-abandoned prospector tracks.

Maps and photos of the state’s thousands of R.S. 2477 claims are available at http://www.suwa.org/issues/phantom-roads-r-s-2477/.

A slideshow of Salt Creek is available at bit.ly/OyFSwL.