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Show Judge Okays Burr Trail Improvements 7 I Charred remains gives mute evidence to devastating force of 1 fire. This mobile home was consumed in a matter of minutes in Henrieville Tuesday, Nov. 24. A water shortage and an empty fire truck tank contributed to the tragedy. Calling it the "David and Goliath Go-liath Syndrome," Garfield County Commissioner Tom Hatch acknowledged ac-knowledged that county officials feel pretty good about Monday's landmark decision that will permit the county to go ahead with improvements im-provements to a 28-mile section of the Burr Trad. U. S. District Judge Aldon Anderson An-derson ruled Monday after 25 days of trial in Salt Lake City and a lengthy deliberation period that the county does indeed have a valid right of way to the Burr Trad and that the county could proceed with improvements "in a manner which is reasonable and necessary under the circumstances." The judge's judgment stated that "all of the construction now proposed is reasonable rea-sonable and necessary given the current condition of the road and the increasing traffic." The judgment also declared that the "materials previously prepared and the evidence adduced at trial are the substantial equivalent of an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement). Consequently no EIS would have to be prepared even if significant impact did exist." The order specifically denied the environmentalists' request for a permanent injuncdon and lifted the temporary injunction entered by the court before the trial began. "We'd like to start as soon as possible," said Hatch, "and the contractor is eager to get underway." under-way." Despite Salt Lake City reports re-ports to the contrary, Hatch said that this is a good time of year to conduct construction on the Burr Trail area, when the moisture con-' con-' tent is high. He said total costs for litigation and other problems associated with it have run close to a half million dollars. Those costs represent not only court and attorney expenses but also expenses related to vandal-' vandal-' ism on the Burr Trail. Stakes had to be replaced three or four times in some cases, Hatch said. ; Environmentalists have the right to appeal Judge Anderson's decision, Hatch said, "but I fail to see where they can find any real basis for appeal. It looks like Judge Anderson has pretty much covered all the bases in his extensive written opinion." An appeal would have to be filed with the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Hatch said. On Monday evening, the county's three commission members, mem-bers, the county attorney, and other attorneys retained by the county shared a conference call to listen to the details of the federal court decision. deci-sion. Copies of the decision were then made available by Tuesday morning in Panguitch. On Tuesday, the county's representative, repre-sentative, engineer Steve Creamer of Creamer and Noble, met with representatives of Harper Excavation Excava-tion in the Salt Lake City area to discuss particulars of beginning work on the 28-mde section. The decision denied the county's claim for damages from the environmentalists envi-ronmentalists for improperly requesting re-questing a preliminary injunction, delaying construction, interfering with contractural relations and making false statements about the validity of the county's right-of-way. The judge's order requires that the county realign a section of road in The Gulch, a critical riparian area, and locate the short section on -a bench. Hatch said the bench location loca-tion had originally been proposed by the county and approved by the BLM and was the county's preferred location. The judge's order places substantial responsibility on the BLM for overseeing the project (See BURR Page 8) Burr which is the BLM's appointed responsibility re-sponsibility under the law anyway, Hatch said. Defendants in the case were the Department of Interior, Garfield County, Harper Excavation, and the Bureau of Land Management. Plaintiffs included the Sierra Club, National Parks and Conservation Association, Southern South-ern Utah Wilderness Alliance and The Wilderness Society. Among the judge's comments: "The scope of a right-of-way, however, reflects the uses to which the road has traditionally been put rather than the particular use Congress may have had in mind when it made the grant. . . . And even if the right-of-way were restricted re-stricted to use for economic development devel-opment as plaintiffs claim, it would still encompass the proposed changes since the promotion of tourism is a form of economic development. de-velopment. The fact that the nature of the economy has evolved from sheep and cattle-driving to meeting the public's recreational needs does not alter this result. Bullfrog Marina Ma-rina was not built by Garfield County. The county is merely responding re-sponding to the changing needs of the public by providing for safe travel, as it is obliged to do. Moreover, More-over, it is an oversimplification to characterize Garfield County's goal as the promotion of tourism. As noted, the road is a vital link between be-tween the county's major centers of activity." |