The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources has advanced S. 90, the Historic Roadways Protection Act, sponsored by Chairman Mike Lee. The legislation is intended to preserve longstanding rights-of-way across Utah’s public lands while court cases regarding their ownership continue.
The bill was introduced in response to federal travel management plans established during the Biden administration, which have led to the permanent closure of hundreds of miles of roads in Utah. Many of these roads are claimed under Revised Statute 2477 (R.S. 2477), a law from 1866 that encouraged settlement and development in the American West. Although R.S. 2477 was repealed in 1976, Congress maintained protections for existing rights-of-way, many of which are still being contested in court.
Chairman Lee addressed the committee during its business meeting, raising concerns about the pace at which the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is closing roads compared to how quickly courts can resolve disputes over their ownership.
“Many of these roads were built long before the modern federal land management system existed,” said Chairman Lee. “When Congress repealed R.S. 2477 in 1976, it did not erase those roads. It explicitly preserved them. Yet the Bureau of Land Management is closing roads faster than the courts can adjudicate my state and counties’ claims to those roads. That is backwards.”
In one region near Moab, a single travel management plan resulted in more than 300 miles of road closures; over a third were claimed as R.S. 2477 rights-of-way by local authorities. Across Utah, counties have filed more than 12,500 such claims, with many cases still unresolved. Federal courts have ruled in favor of Utah on several occasions by granting title to specific routes like House Rock Valley Road and Hole-in-the-Rock Road.
“The Historic Roadways Protection Act simply says this,” continued Chairman Lee. “Until the courts determine who owns these roads, the federal government may not permanently close them. It does not decide ownership. It does not resolve the lawsuits. It just ensures the damage is not done before the law has its say.”
If enacted, the legislation would prevent federal funds from being used to finalize or implement certain travel management plans affecting disputed roadways in Utah until all related R.S. 2477 claims are resolved through legal proceedings.
