23,000 miles of roads on public land will undergo Travel Mgmt in the next 3 years.

6 responses to “23,000 miles of roads on public land will undergo Travel Mgmt in the next 3 years.”

1. 

   Joyce Ritner

   Nov 18, 2022 11:24 AM

   If the people abusing the roads were policed more ut would help

   Reply
   1. 

      Kevin Allard

      Nov 18, 2022 3:10 PM

      I agree! That’s why we need to make sure local law enforcement is enforcing state law in problem areas. We should be demanding that additional funding be set aside to hire and equip LEOs with the tools they need. Luckily, people are starting to go to jail, and about 60 million was just allocated to county Sheriffs by the Legislature.

2. 

   Gary Miller

   Nov 18, 2022 7:01 AM

   Kevin, i am all for keeping back roads open, but until someone controls the Razor type vehicle’s, we are going to lose the battle. I’m sure there are responsible drivers, but the majority of them are tearing up the landscape.

   Reply
   1. 

      Kevin Allard

      Nov 18, 2022 5:52 PM

      I don’t believe the problem warrants the closure of thousands of miles of roads. These roads should be governed no differently that any other county highway under the long-standing highway right of way established under Section 8 of the Mining Act of 1866. ARS 37-931 gives counties authority over roads on federal lands. Therefore, the 4×4 community should focus its efforts on engaging the County Sheriff and allocating state funding to county sheriff’s departments.

      By relying on the Federal Government to stop these issues, we are justifying authority the federal government doesn’t have. Roads over public lands are a state issue under the long-standing principles established by Section 8 of the Mining Act of 1866. Federal law, federal regulation, agency policy manuals, hundreds of court cases, and documented rulemaking processes in the federal register, recognize this fact.

3. 

   Duane Ward

   Nov 18, 2022 6:00 AM

   What can the general public do I have a lot of friends we all use and respect our public land I have over 100 of us ready to take action. Please respond thankyou.

   Reply
   1. 

      Kevin Allard

      Nov 18, 2022 8:19 PM

      Thanks for asking. Many variables come into play here. In general, we have two major issues and both of them are related.

      First off, the federal government is out of control and ignoring its own regulations and agency policy manual. These roads are property rights of the state under long-standing federal law and agency regulation stemming from section 8 of the Mining Act of 1866. Simply put, the federal government is acting like a bad neighbor who locked the gate on a road used to access your property. The only option is to file a civil suit for injunctive relief, get the county sheriff to cut the lock, or cut the lock yourself. Or better yet, deregulate Federal agencies to end the Travel Management process.

      Federal Land managers have set a standard over the past 20-plus years that ignores states’ rights. The state and county should be taking action.

      The second problem is lawless actions by the public. It’s a common misunderstanding that people are causing closures. The fact is, the Travel Management planning process is written into federal regulation as a mechanism used to accomplish the goals mandated by other federal laws. The process is used to allegedly “protect” endangered species, wetland habitats, riparian areas, roadless areas, recommended wilderness areas, and so on. However, Federal law, federal regulation, agency policy manuals, and hundreds of court cases, make the travel management process only applicable to roads constructed after October of 1976.

      We cannot deny there are real problems. Open access comes with responsibility. The community and established clubs can only do so much to change how people act. In our opinion, motorized use advocates have mistakenly put law enforcement responsibilities on federal agencies where no constitutional authority exists. While doing so, we have pushed aside local law enforcement who have the legal authority to enforce state law. We NEED Sheriffs departments to start enforcing state law along our backroads and in popular areas on public lands. They are the answer to 90% of the argument. Currently, each county only has a handful of deputies dedicated to patrolling public lands in their jurisdiction.

      If we could get 20 sheriff deputies in each county to focus on these issues, it would protect the interest of the federal government (environment) and the interest of the state, and therefore, We The People.