BLM and Utah officials vow to settle fight over dirt roads

For decades, state and federal officials across the West have locked horns over who rightfully controls countless dirt roads that cross federal lands. Now, the federal Bureau of Land Management is inviting Utah officials to sit down and negotiate the dispute. On Friday, BLM director Bob Abbey laid out a roadmap for talks, suggesting officials start first in Iron County and take the easiest roads to resolve in open, transparent negotiations. Abbey said he was acting at the direction of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and taking up a challenge originally proposed by the Utah Association of Counties. "Do we have a deal yet?" said the association's No. 2 official, Mark Ward. "No, but the groundwork is laid." The association's executive director, Brent Gardner, said, "We're happy and certainly want to work with them." No timetable for talks has been set. The dispute is over historic passageways across lands owned by BLM, the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service. Utah officials say a one-sentence 1866 law assured open passage across the federal lands. The law -- repealed in 1976 with protection for existing roads -- set off protracted fights about which routes crisscrossing the West qualify for local control...more