Freeway cattle drive concludes without a state showdown


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MORGAN — A herd of cattle milled nervously next to an on-ramp to I-84 for nearly 90 minutes Thursday morning, their bellows a constant chorus of complaint.

Members of the Charles Pentz family were also frustrated, held up from beginning their cattle trailing by a concrete barrier the state installed to block access to the freeway on-ramp.

"I am not sure what we are going to do," said Lane Pentz, eying the barrier, the cows and their months-old calves.

Finally, the Pentz family placed boards over the cattle guard and the trailing began, escorted by Utah Highway Patrol troopers. The group of 30 family members and 90 cows and calves made it 8.5 miles to the Croydon exit absent any arrests or other action by the state.

"I'm relieved," said Lane Pentz, giving the thumbs up. "Until next time."

The children of rancher Charles Pentz, who is deceased, are in a protracted dispute with the Utah Department of Transportation over trailing their cattle on the 1-84 freeway, an activity they have done twice a year since 1951.

After negotiating unsuccessfully for years with UDOT about paying trucking costs or building an alternative route for the livestock, the Pentz Family Estate filed a lawsuit in April demanding resolution from the transportation agency.

"We have always tried to work with the state," said Shane Pentz, one of the sons. "Usually (UDOT) puts up signs a week ahead of time, but they haven't done anything like that."

Aaron Bergman, attorney for the Pentz family, said the cattle drives happened on state Route 30 until I-84 replaced the narrow highway in 1958. The state traffic agency, he added, was at the table with impacted livestock owners assuring continued access.

The Pentz family drives their cattle up I-84 from Morgan to their summer pastures above Croydon on Thursday, June 30, 2016. (Photo: Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
The Pentz family drives their cattle up I-84 from Morgan to their summer pastures above Croydon on Thursday, June 30, 2016. (Photo: Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)

By 2005, amid a increasingly congested Wasatch Front, Bergman said the state changed its mind, insisting the Pentz family find an alternative avenue of getting their cattle to summer range. The cattle drives continued in the midst of the disagreement.

The Utah Attorney General's Office says the state is not obligated to provide an alternative route for the cattle, arguing that a 1998 Utah law is discretionary, not mandatory, according to court documents.

Bergman's case states otherwise and is backed by a nonbinding, advisory opinion from the state Office of Property Rights Ombudsman, which says UDOT must build another trail for the cattle if a public highway used for trailing cattle becomes unavailable.

The Pentz family, arguing that UDOT paved over their stock trail, moved the cattle to the I-84 on-ramp in Morgan Thursday morning in a showdown with state agencies. No one at the scene knew how the Old West style standoff would end, but the Pentz family said they would not break the law by removing the barrier.

Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Mike Loveland urged the family to move the cattle from in front of the on-ramp to I-84 back to the north of the interstate entrance so motorists could get where they needed to go.

"I think you need people on your side," he told Steve Pentz, adding delayed motorists would be frustrated from being late to work or other obligations.

"If we accommodate the public, why doesn't UDOT accommodate us?" Shane Pentz retorted.

Loveland's pleas worked, however, and the cattle were moved so motorists could get to the on-ramp.

"It's extremely frustrating," said Max Beddoes, stepson of Lane Pentz. He and his younger sister, Rozi, 11, and Mason, 7, sat on horses, ready to move the cattle.

Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Mike Loveland, second from left, talks to Shane Pentz, Klayton Pentz, attorney Aaron Bergman and Steve Pentz, left to right, as the family waits to find a legal way to get their cattle up the I-84 on-ramp in Morgan so they can drive them to their summer pastures above Croydon on Thursday, June 30, 2016. (Photo: Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Mike Loveland, second from left, talks to Shane Pentz, Klayton Pentz, attorney Aaron Bergman and Steve Pentz, left to right, as the family waits to find a legal way to get their cattle up the I-84 on-ramp in Morgan so they can drive them to their summer pastures above Croydon on Thursday, June 30, 2016. (Photo: Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)

Other family members with young children rode off-highway vehicles, trading jokes one moment and grumbles the next.

"I've been doing this since I can remember," Beddoes said. "We've always chased them up the freeway."

Bergman, who was with the family in Morgan, said he wasn't sure what, if any kind of reception, the ranchers may get at the conclusion of the ride.

He was trying Thursday to get a judge to issue an order preventing UDOT from having the concrete barrier in place.

Like the Pentz family, he was waiting on an unpredictable outcome.

"In my mind it is a bit ridiculous that UDOT is providing all these safety measures and tweeting about the cattle drive and warning motorists, but at the same time is refusing to remove the barriers," Bergman said. "It's very inconsistent and sends a mixed message to not only the Pentz family, but to the public. If not mixed, it is severely unclear."

UDOT officials have declined to comment on the dispute and have only said the safety of the public and the ranchers are primary.

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