Anti-wilderness counties and state governments in the rural West and Alaska say that the RS 2477 fight is about all about access. But in reality, these claims have absolutely nothing to do with legitimate transportation needs, and everything to do with thwarting Wilderness designation or any other protections for our nation's public lands.

A Little History
Revised Statute 2477, or RS 2477 as it is commonly known, dates from 1866 when it was included in the Mining Act of 1866. The statute was meant to facilitate western expansion. Its language, all 20 words if it, was simple:

"The right-of-way for the construction of highways over public lands, not reserved for public uses, is hereby granted."

No paper exchanged hands, no permits issued.

In 1976, Congress repealed the old law when it passed the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA). But Congress left the door open to claims validly established before then. Dozens of western counties now are aiming their bulldozers at this enticing loophole, and in ways that Congress never intended.
>> Legislative history of RS 2477

Burr Trail
The first major skirmish in the road wars was in Utah in the mid-1980s. At issue was the Burr Trail, a scenic, then-dirt byway leading from the little town of Boulder, through Capitol Reef National Park to the Bullfrog Marina within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Garfield County said it would widen, realign, and pave the trail, under an RS 2477 right-of-way.

The Burr Trail case was in and out of courts for years. It served as a research and development program for precisely the anti-wilderness weapon that counties sought. They jumped on it. Some counties didn't wait for validity determinations on their road claims. They just started bulldozing roads into areas proposed for protection and dared public land managers to do anything about it. Backed by hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Utah legislature, and equipped with hand-held GPS instruments, an army of employees hit the backcountry over the next few years, working to document old rights-of way. Today, Utah and its counties may claim as many as 15,000 routes -- not miles, routes.
>> More on Utah's RS 2477 claims

Establishing Standards
Standards for establishing a right-of-way have been pretty clear, with three factors accepted as requirements:

• A highway must have been built while the public land was unreserved for some other specific public purpose.
• The highway must have actually been constructed, not simply established by repeated use.
• It must have actually been a public highway, meant to carry goods and people to an actual destination.

But these standards have never been formalized in the RS 2477 process. So in the 1990s, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt proposed regulations to codify these standards. At the same time, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens was pushing legislation to greatly ease the standards. Babbitt and Stevens struck a deal: There would be a provision -- good until Congress repealed it -- barring new Interior Department rules for evaluating RS 2477 claims without congressional approval. In return, Stevens would drop his legislation.

Unfortunately, key elements contained in the Babbitt regulations that would have clarified RS 2477 claims died in the deal with Stevens. The regulations would have established a deadline for claims to be filed. Right now, the claims lurk, uncounted, unidentified, undisclosed until states and counties see a chance to use them against some plan to protect a park, wilderness or other public lands. The regulations also would have put the burden of proving a claim's validity on the claimant. Right now, it is up to the federal government to disprove every claim that is filed.
>> RS 2477 factsheet
>> RS 2477 legislative history

Bogus Claims
"RS 2477 claims have absolutely nothing to do with legitimate transportation needs in the West, and everything to do with who controls America's western public lands," says Pamela Eaton, The Wilderness Society's Four Corner States regional director. "And the fundamental goal of the State of Utah and its counties is to use these claims to thwart wilderness designation."

Indeed, some of Utah's RS 2477 claims include dry streambeds and even a waterfall, hardly the highways the statute specifies.

Disclaimer Rule: The Latest Threat
After much controversy and secrecy, the U.S. Department of Interior published a new rule in early January 2003 that makes it easier for states and local jurisdictions to convert RS 2477 claims on public lands into new roads. Conservationists, Members of Congress, and even the Interior Department's own National Park Service claim that the new rule has the potential to devastate wilderness throughout the western United States including Alaska, as well as national parks like Joshua Tree, Denali, Wrangell-St. Elias, and Mojave National Preserve.
>> More on Disclaimer Rule
>> Press release on Disclaimer Rule
>> RS 2477: Relationship to Disclaimer Rule