Federal Land Closures

Federal Land Closures

From fellow patriot Brandon Siegfried, one of the primary leaders in the public lands access battle:

"The federal Bureau of Land Management/United States Forrest Service lacks the jurisdiction to close any Right of Way on public lands in Colorado. Whether it is a ROW under State Law (CRS 43-2-201) or an RS 2477 route (built before 1976) on unreserved public lands. On Federal Lands in Mesa County, Civil and Criminal issues are handled by the County/State, because the Federal Gov’t only has a Proprietorial Interest in our public lands. The illegal closure of a legal ROW is a Criminal act."

Friends of Access, Per the attached documents it confirms that nearly all (99%) of public lands in Western Colorado are under a Proprietorial Interest by the Federal Gov’t. This can be confirmed in Title 3 of the Colorado Revised Statutes as it reveals which public lands in CO have been ceded to the Federal Gov’t.

“A study conducted (1956-1957) referred to as the Eisenhower Document examined the federal authority within a State. It was determined local law enforcement overlooked duties within the lands held in trust by the federal government and the federal agencies were not engaged in such actions. What emerged from
this study were four levels of jurisdiction. They are (1) exclusive, (2) concurrent, (3) partial, and (4) proprietorial. Most lands fit into the proprietorial level of jurisdiction, unless specifically stated otherwise”. Oregon Sheriff, Gil Gilbertson.

Additionally, I have attached a great document on RS 2477 Right of Ways. AS we have always stated, these Right of Ways (ROWs) are already “granted”, they are not claims! Under FLMPA it’s illegal for the Federal gov’t to ignore “Granted” Right of Ways.

What does all this information mean?
1. The BLM/USFS lacks the jurisdiction to close any Right of Way on public lands in Colorado. Whether it is a ROW under State Law (CRS 43-2-201) or an RS 2477 route (built before 1976) on unreserved public lands. On Federal Lands in Mesa County, Civil and Criminal issues are handled by the County/State, because the Federal Gov’t only has a Proprietorial Interest in our public lands. The illegal closure of a legal ROW is a Criminal act.

So why is it, that the Sheriffs in Western Colorado have not written a document or made a statement like the one attached by Sheriff Gil Gilbertson? Why is it that our elected officials who have sworn to uphold the Constitution are silent on this matter? The Grand Junction BLM office is proposing to close 2180 miles of Roads in our area, this is illegal, these are County Roads/legal Colorado ROW’s, defined and defended under our State Laws, Federal Statutes, and the legal definition of Federal Jurisdiction. These routes can only legally be vacated by our Elected County Commissioners per State Law.

I have reviewed Executive Orders 11644 and 11989, and the Federal Land Management Policy Act of 1976 (FLMPA). They do not affect Legal Jurisdiction and do not eliminate the Grant given to us under RS 2477.

Stay classy Colorado.

Brandon Siegfried

Mr. Siegfried sent this information to all locally elected officials.

posted by David Cox