The Issue in a Nutshell
Revised Statute 2477, commonly referred to as R.S. 2477, is a provision in an 1866 mining law that was intended to facilitate settlement of the West. To do this, it granted rights-of-ways for "the construction of highways across public lands not otherwise reserved for public uses."

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) repealed the RS 2477 provision and established an updated process for determining reasonable access to national lands, with public participation in the decision-making and sensible long-term management goals for these public areas. FLPMA also stated that valid, existing RS 2477 rights-of-way claims would not be affected.

Today, 25 years later, RS 2477 is being resurrected to promote unrestricted development and road construction on our public lands. Under the Conveyances, Disclaimers and Corrections Documents final rule published by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on January 6, 2003, federal lands are potentially subject to thousands of new RS 2477 rights-of-way claims. These unsubstantiated claims could lead to the construction of hundreds of thousands of miles of new highways on sensitive public and private lands across our nation.

Incredibly, the rule opens the door to thousands of new RS2477 claims without any policy or criteria in place to determine the validity of these rights-of-way claims. The issue of RS 2477 validity standards has been the subject of controversy and debate -- as evidenced by previous congressional amendments and riders, litigation, and presidential vetoes -- over the past several decades and is likely to continue in this vein.

Our Natural Heritage is Threatened
No lands would be safe from the potential devastation of this ill-conceived rule, as our National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, National Forests, designated Wilderness, and Wilderness Study Areas -- in addition to tribal lands, military training grounds, and even privately owned land -- could be carved up by RS 2477 claims.

Specific Concerns with Final Rule Provisions

• Allows recordable disclaimers to be issued where applicants assert title created under laws that are now expired (such as RS 2477).
• Eliminates the existing 12 year statute of limitations on states claiming title to or interests in public lands.
• Allows any entity to claim title, not just current "owners of record," as required under previous regulations.
• Permits BLM to waive the requirement for applicants to produce documents showing evidence of title to the lands in question.
• Under the new rule, there is no opportunity for the public to appeal the disclaimer or right-of-way decisions, making court action the only way to challenge actions that degrade our parks and wilderness areas.
• To the extent that RS 2477 rights of way cross private lands, the property rights of private landowners could also be jeopardized under implementation of the new federal regulation. Lands that are now Indian reservations, military installations, or national parks would be at risk, as would homesteads, ranches and even municipalities.
• Despite the potential impact this rule could have on our nation’s public lands, the agency claims it is categorically excluded from environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Potential Impacts of the Disclaimer Rule

• Future wilderness designations would be precluded, as our public lands become criss-crossed by highways.
  • Alaska. Over 900,000 miles within our public lands in Alaska are at stake, including areas within Denali National Park, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, and Katmai National Park, some of the world’s most pristine wildlands.
  • Utah. State and rural counties in Utah claim at least 15,000 RS 2477 rights-of-way, including jeep trails, cow paths, streambeds, and long-abandoned mining tracks.
  • California. Local counties in California have alleged over 2,300 miles of RS 2477 routes in the Mojave National Preserve and Death Valley National Park.
• The construction of new thoroughfares through some of our most sensitive, pristine public lands would cause water pollution, fragmentation of wildlife habitat, loss of biological diversity, soil erosion, and degradation of wilderness values.
• A proliferation of RS 2477 claims could lead to an explosion of off-road vehicle use on thousands of acres of fragile public lands.
• Several counties have already commented on the administrative burden this rule will impose, as they would have to process significant increases in RS 2477 claims.
• Private landowners, tribal nations, and areas managed by other federal agencies (including military bases and training grounds) would not be exempt from RS 2477 rights-of-ways cutting across their lands.