In continuing our informative series on the road closures in Arizona, we want to discuss RS2477.
In 1866, Congress passed the original mining grant and as a part of that, RS2477 was born which required the roads in the public domain to remain open. Roads……being defined as something as small as a trail.
From Wikipedia: RS 2477 was repealed in 1976 under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA). The repeal was subject to “valid existing rights.” The relevant text (Sec. 701. 43 U.S.C. 1701) reads (a) “Nothing in this Act, or in any amendment made by this Act, shall be construed as terminating any valid lease, permit, patent, right-of-way, or other land use right or authorization existing on the date of approval of this Act”. Meaning, any rights which existed prior to the passage of FLPMA is upheld and must be recognized.
This has been challenged many, many times and has been upheld for the purpose of keeping the roads/trails open.
The most notable case in recent years is the Utah Supreme Court case in 2017.
This link is one of the better write-ups on the case and we strongly urge you to read it:
There are two other issues to come which we will be focusing on with these road closures.
In the end, it boils down to one simple thing, you either allow an out of control agency to subvert your rights or you stand up, write a letter and call a congress-critter to put pressure on the agency to stop this crap.
We will be asking you to do both.