Ty Chamberlain of the Caliente Bureau of Land Management office talks with county commissioners about the county-BLM road maintenance agreement.

PIOCHE — Saying the road maintenance agreement between Lincoln County and the Bureau of Land Management needs a bit more work, county commissioners delayed signing the agreement at their Jan. 19 meeting.

In fact, the matter on the agenda was tabled following a short discussion.

Ty Chamberlain, with the BLM Caliente office, said the maintenance agreement is not intended to take away the right of way on roads that have been part of the county prior to 1976.

“If you have rights under RS 2477, we’re not taking away any of those rights. We’re not validating any of those rights, so this is pretty much a neutral issue as far as any existing rights of way,” Chamberlain said.

County commissioners have claimed some of the roads in the county do come under the RS 2477 Right of Way Act established by Congress in 1866, but Chamberlain said the 1964 Wilderness Act overrides the 1866 Act, and “those roads no longer exist.”

Commission Chairman Tommy Rowe has said he does not agree with the 1964 Wilderness Act, taking away public access on some long-standing roads. “They all belong to the county,” he said.

Chamberlain agreed such a claim could be a valid argument to be made in court, “but what we’re trying to do is get you all those roads without all that cost to the county. We are purposely, in this agreement, not nullifying, one way or the other, in agreement or not in agreement, any existing rights that you may or may not have.”

District Attorney Daniel Hooge said the agreement pertains to road maintenance, and does not take away the county’s ability to argue ownership in the future.

Chamberlain had said earlier that the BLM is willing to give the designated roads over to the county for maintenance. “What we want to do is to protect the public interests. This agreement does not narrow the hands of the county road department in being able to do their thing. We just want to know what is going on.”

The agreement calls for either group to notify each other 48 hours in advance of maintenance work to be done, emergency work excepted. “Something that wasn’t in the normal rotation of your maintenance,” Chamberlain explained. “Right now, we have no notification procedure,” he added.

At present, Commissioner Paul Donohue is planning to meet quarterly with the BLM to discuss routine maintenance issues. Chamberlain said, if things change from that planned schedule, “We just want to be notified.”

DAVE MAXWELL  |  LINCOLN COUNTY RECORD

Photo by Dave Maxwell