<\/p>\n
Montezuma County is beginning a campaign to sign historical roads that cross onto public lands.<\/p>\n
Based on independent research, officials have identified 10 to 15 roads that qualify as historical because they predate the 1976 Federal Land and Management Policy Act ( FLMPA).<\/p>\n
Signs are being designed that will have the original road name and an image of transportation methods such as stage coaches and wagons.<\/p>\n
\u201cPutting up these signs is in the spirit of these roads historically being used for transportation,\u201d said road supervisor Rob Englehart.<\/p>\n
The list of roads is still being worked out, but it includes the Goodman Point Road, Country Road 10, Haycamp Road, Dolores-Norwood Road and Transfer Park Road.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will be installed before the roads cross onto public lands,\u201d said commissioner Larry Don Suckla. \u201cSeveral counties are doing this to show historic right of way.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the early 20th century, the routes were used for the Ackerman Stagecoach Line and Kelly\u2019s Freight stagecoach.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe wagon trains and original roads that they relied on were a key aspect of local and regional trade,\u201d said commissioner Keenan Ertel.<\/p>\n
The signs will be either 18 inches by 24 inches, or 24 inches by 30 inches and cost between $35 and $50 each. Commissioners discussed including the official road name on the signs and legal language on the penalties of theft of the signs.<\/p>\n
Few pictures for use on the signs are available, and the county encourages the public to submit images of roads in the area being used by horses, mules, stagecoaches or old vehicles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more we have to work with the better,\u201d said James Dietrich, community services director.<\/p>\n
The Southwest Public Lands Coalition plans to assert county jurisdiction on roads within the BLM\u2019s Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, a 64,000-acre swath of federal land.<\/p>\n
Group member Dennis Atwater will present evidence during Monday\u2019s commissioner meeting indicating county jurisdiction on roads within the monument.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur research shows that 90 percent of roads in the monument are county jurisdiction and were in use before 1976,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
SPLC says the BLM can\u2019t legally close a road outside their jurisdiction. Atwater said a number of closures in the monument violate this premise.<\/p>\n
Activists cite Revised Statute 2477 as the authority for keeping roads on federal land open. The 1866 statute states \u201cthe right of way for the construction of highways across public lands not otherwise reserved for public purposes is hereby granted.\u201d The law was repealed in 1976.<\/p>\n
SPLC plans to propose putting up road signs on monument roads that show the MC symbol for the county and an RS2477 reference.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of those roads on the monument are clearly county roads by law and have a 60-foot right of way,\u201d Atwater said. \u201cIt is important for the traveling public to know they are on a historical road and not get cited.\u201d<\/p>\n