In a surprise move, the Interior Department extended
its comment period a third time on R.S. 2477, a law adopted in 1866
to spur colonizing of the West. R.S. 2477 granted a right-of-way to
rural counties for the construction of highways on public lands
(HCN, 3/21/94). When Congress repealed the law in 1976,
pre-existing claims of rural highways were grandfathered in,
setting off a flurry of claim-staking by rural Western counties,
particularly in Utah, which generated 5,000 of the 5,600 pending
claims. Interior’s draft regulations are intended to determine what
exactly constitutes a “highway” and how to verify claims.
Environmentalists have supported the Interior Department effort to
narrow the definition of a right-of-way and block counties from
claiming roads across essentially wild public land. To comment
before Jan. 20, write Director, BLM, Room 5555, Main Interior
Building, 1849 C St. N.W.,Washington, DC
20240.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Delay again for R.S. 2477.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
