Rep. Gosar Announces Introduction of Bill to Preserve Historic Roads, Save Counties Money

Statement

U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after introducing bipartisan legislation last week with Representatives Paul Cook (R-CA), Chris Stewart (R-UT), Scott Tipton (R-CO) and Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ), the Historic Routes Preservation Act, which allows local counties to resolve public lands right-of-way disputes without going to court:

"This bipartisan bill provides a useful tool for cleaning up maps in western states and allows confirmation of rights-of-way on public lands through an administrative process, as opposed to the current expensive judicial process. Counties throughout the West shouldn't have to spend precious resources on litigation in order to keep public roads open, especially when counties have been paying to maintain these roads for decades. This bill provides a commonsense solution that will maintain public access and prevent government bureaucrats from arbitrarily closing historic routes."

Congressman Paul Cook (R-CA) stated, "This bill empowers local counties and gives the Bureau of Land Management clear administrative responsibility when it comes to confirming rights-of-ways on our public lands. Right now, it's an expensive and time consuming task for counties to assert existing rights-of-way on roads across federal land. Many small counties can't afford to go to court to keep public roads open, leading to a loss of public access to public land. This bill changes the way things were done and forces the Departments of Interior and Agriculture to deal with these claims administratively."

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