Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- On one side are the company that wants to develop a fishing lodge and cabins on the Green River near Little Hole and the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, which wants to make money from the land.
On the other hand are anglers afraid commercial development would ruin public access to the river, create an eyesore along the banks and deplete one of the state's blue-ribbon trout fisheries and the state Division of Wildlife Resources, which wants the land for wildlife habitat.
The outcome of the battle between the two state agencies may hinge on whether there has been public access to the 365 acres of school trust land east of Flaming Gorge Reservoir.
SITLA contends there is a historic right of way to the parcel. DWR says the roadway does not extend into SITLA land.
One Daggett County map shows the road that originally forded the Green River near Little Hole does not pass through the SITLA property. But a second county map seems to indicate that it might have.
"We're confident there is access," said SITLA Director Kevin Carter. "Our attorneys have looked at the data -- maps, affidavits and photos -- documenting the presence of that road."
According to a Utah law commonly called the "10-Year User Statute," any thoroughfare used by the public for a decade or more remains a right of way, said Lynn Stevens, coordinator for the Governor's Office of Public Lands Policy.
SITLA is considering leasing its acreage on the river's south side to Flint Timber, which proposed a private resort that would include 10 cabins and a lodge.
The access to the property is a class-D dirt road through DWR land.
In July, Assistant Attorney General Marty Bushman sent a letter to SITLA saying the route does not enter the school trust parcel. A lessee or purchaser would not have access to the land.
DWR had unsuccessfully sought the acreage as wildlife habitat, offering to purchase it at fair market value or trade for other lands. SITLA turned down the offer.
SITLA still could determine to sell the land, rather than lease it. If the parcel were put up for auction, DWR could bid against Flint Timber and other interested parties.
Nonetheless, a purchase by private entities would require public access.
"They either have access to the land or they don't," said David Serdar, president of Stonefly Society of the Wasatch, a chapter of Trout Unlimited. If SITLA leases the land to Flint Timber, anglers will appeal, Serdar said.
His group and other fishing interests say a commercial development there could harm spawning waters of cutthroat trout and spoil the rugged ambiance of the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam.
Daggett County officials say they won't stand in the way of the proposed development.
County Commissioner Craig Collett said, "The last business to open in the county was seven years ago. We're certainly interested in new business; we've been economically depressed."
Collett said a recent analysis by the county indicates that there is evidence of a historic right of way to the SITLA land.
"We talked to people who lived there as early as the 1940s and they say the road was there," he said. "We're not necessarily siding with SITLA, but we're saying there was a public road."
------
Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
