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House approves bill extending local tools for forest-road obstructions after safety debate
Summary
HB 367 passed the House 58–11 on March 1, 2016; the bill extends the 2014 Local Jurisdiction in Relation to Federal Lands Act to forest-road obstructions in Dixie National Forest, prompting debate about federal-local relations and a sponsor example of a wildfire response delay.
The Utah House on March 1 approved House Bill 367, which applies the state’s 2014 Local Jurisdiction in Relation to Federal Lands Act to obstructions on county roads within the Dixie National Forest.
Sponsor Representative Noel said the bill "gives the county one more important tool to protect the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens against forest road closures in the Dixie National Forest," citing a multi-county wildfire response in Kane County where officials could not use a blocked road without the next-day permission of federal managers.
Representative Briscoe and others cautioned that the measure could create conflicts between local sheriffs and Forest Service law enforcement because federal closures sometimes reflect agency management plans or directives from Washington. "Sometimes the administrators of the forest lands and the BLM lands are following directives that flow from Washington, D.C.," Briscoe said, urging a preference to resolve such problems at the federal level.
After discussion and sponsor summation emphasizing local-safety examples and existing notification processes, the House passed HB 367 by voice and roll call; the clerk recorded 58 yes, 11 no. The bill will be transmitted to the Senate for consideration.
