Conservationists score minor victory in Utah roads case

摘要

A federal appeals court yesterday cleared the way for conservationists to pursue a lawsuit in a Utah court seeking to upend the Beehive State's claims to tens of thousands of miles of roads crisscrossing federal lands. The order by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver was a small victory for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which is battling Utah's bid to claim road access for its residents under a Civil War-era law. Utah has filed roughly two dozen lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah claiming more than 14,000 rights of way totaling nearly 35,000 miles of dirt trails and routes. If fully litigated, the cases could take decades to resolve.