Free Republic

A plan that will close nearly 2,000 miles of public roads that have previously been open for use by the people of Mesa County is creating a public backlash against the Grand Junction field office of the federal Bureau of Land Management. The BLM’s resource management plans (RMP) regulate the access and types of traffic allowed on roads on public lands. Road maintenance and seasonal closures are also detailed in such plans. But the most recent RMP in Mesa County indicates the BLM’s intent to limit access to public roads which have traditionally been open to motorized, horse, and foot...

<p>The Bush administration has hijacked an 1866 law intended to help open the West. The uses that the administration now envisions for this law has the potential to ruin vast portions of the West.</p> <p>Many of the state's signature landscapes -- Death Valley and the Mojave National Preserve -- could soon face claims from local governments demanding rights-of-way over these federal lands for new roads. On the Mojave preserve alone, San Bernardino County is pressing claims to 2,567 miles of rights-of-way, according to the Los Angeles Times.</p>