A judge this fall will tour 15 disputed southern Utah routes crossing public land to help determine whether to cede these federal rights of way to Kane County, but details of that tour will remain under wraps in an apparent effort to ensure the safety of those on the site visits.
Two of the routes, which weave in and out of streams within the original boundaries of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, are closed to motorized use. So the legal entourage could wind up violating federal land-use rules regarding the Paria River, long a flashpoint in Utah’s battle with the Bureau of Land Management over control of remote back roads, argued lawyers for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and other environmental groups in Salt Lake City’s federal court Thursday.