Rob Bishop: “the gentleman from Colorado attempts to attack an Interior Department rule which allows memorandums of understanding on…”

“the gentleman from Colorado attempts to attack an Interior Department rule which allows memorandums of understanding on issues of roads which have been a source of contention and litigation since 1976. Utah is so far the only State to have taken advantage of this memorandum of understanding. Some people have said we are trying to change cow trails and foot paths in pristine wilderness into roads. These are pictures of the actual roads in which we are dealing in the State of Utah. These are not cow trails. These are the kinds of roads which we have. In the memo of understanding, it can only deal with a maintained, documented, continuously used road that is not in a national park, wilderness, wilderness study area, national refuge, et cetera, et cetera. The issue that was brought up by the gentleman from Oregon is one that was a misunderstanding. They objected to a 2477 that was supposedly on private property, but it was actually a county easement to which they were objecting. It had nothing to do with 2477 because 2477 roads cannot by definition be on private property. When I was Speaker of the House 10 years ago in the State of Utah, we started this process. I was fortunate enough to appropriate money so that every county could research their 2477 claims. Today, the State of Utah is ready to give documented history photo, hard evidence of continuous use on every single one of these roads.”