Authority over highways
It must be Make the Environmentalists Happy month, and we all had a hand in it. I don’t understand why the public has allowed the environmentalists to take over. They have destroyed the timber industry with their stupid regulations, and now they have taken over the U.S. highways, with the help and court order of U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill.
Where he gets the authority to seize a highway right of way, owned by the state of Idaho in the form of an easement, I cannot guess. Even the U.S. Forest Service did not believe that they had the authority to stop permitted traffic on the highway right of way. But Winmill ordered them to do it. The result is General Electric dropping their appeal and going elsewhere.
In my opinion, every highway that touches federal land in any state is in jeopardy of being seized by any federal judge at any time. So much for easements. I think the state and counties should pull all law enforcement and maintenance crews off of the seized highway(s) until state control has been recognized and restored.
Chuck Vogelsong
Riggins, Idaho