I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6298 
To clarify congressional intent with respect to the nature of rights-of-way 
granted and accepted under former section 2477 of the Revised Statutes, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 29, 2006 
Mr. PEARCE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Resources 
A BILL 
To clarify congressional intent with respect to the nature 
of rights-of-way granted and accepted under former sec-
tion 2477 of the Revised Statutes, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE, FINDINGS, PURPOSES. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘R.S. 2477 Rights-Of-Way Recognition Act’’. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Prior to its repeal by section 706 of the 
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 
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(43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), section 2477 of the Re-
vised Statutes of the United States (43 U.S.C. 932) 
provided a perpetual grant of a ‘‘right of way for the 
construction of highways over public lands, not re-
served for public uses’’. 
(2) The Federal Land Policy and Management 
Act of 1976 protects R.S. 2477 rights-of-way in ex-
istence on October 21, 1976, the date on which R.S. 
2477 was repealed. 
(3) The R.S. 2477 grant was accepted by estab-
lishing a public highway in any manner recognized 
under State law. 
(4) State law, rather than Federal agency rules 
or regulations, controls how a highway is established 
for purposes of R.S. 2477 rights-of-way. 
(5) Coal and other mineral withdrawal lands 
are ‘‘public lands, not reserved for public uses’’ for 
purposes of R.S. 2477 rights-of-way. 
(6) Federal agencies may not issue rules or reg-
ulations, or adjudicate controversies, relating to R.S. 
2477 rights-of-way. 
(7) State and local governments should consult 
with Federal agencies before beginning road im-
provement projects, but no such consultation is re-
quired for routine maintenance projects, and any 
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disagreement arising from any such consultation 
should be resolved by courts of law rather than by 
Federal agencies. 
(8) Congress should acknowledge R.S. 2477 
rights-of-way for routes shown in 1976–86 era offi-
cial governmental maps. 
(c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to clarify congressional intent with respect 
to the nature of R.S. 2477 rights-of-way in a man-
ner consistent with the findings set forth in sub-
section (b); 
(2) to establish protocols for appropriate Fed-
eral agencies with respect to maintenance, repairs, 
and improvements of R.S. 2477 highways; and 
(3) to acknowledge, recognize, and disclaim all 
right, title, and interest in and to R.S. 2477 rights- 
of-way for roads, streets, highways, and trails across 
Federal land, not reserved for public uses, as re-
corded in timely official governmental maps and sup-
plemented where appropriate by official govern-
mental aerial photographs. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act, the following definitions apply: 
(1) The term ‘‘R.S. 2477’’ means section 2477 
of the Revised Statutes (43 U.S.C. 932). 
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(2) The term ‘‘highway’’ means any route over 
which the general public has a right of passage and 
includes any kind of route used for public travel, 
such as a road for motorized vehicles, carriage way, 
navigable river, trail, or footpath. 
(3) The term ‘‘R.S. 2477 highway’’ means a 
highway for which an R.S. 2477 right-of-way exists. 
(4) The term ‘‘R.S. 2477 right-of-way’’ means 
a right-of-way for a highway over Federal lands, not 
reserved for public uses, established by acts on the 
ground sufficient under applicable State law to es-
tablish a highway and thus accept the R.S. 2477 
right-of-way grant. 
(5) The term ‘‘applicable State law’’ means the 
common and statutory laws of the State or territory 
in which a purported R.S. 2477 highway or segment 
thereof is located. 
(6) The term ‘‘public lands’’ means all public 
domain lands that have been owned by the United 
States. 
(7) The term ‘‘public lands, not reserved for 
public uses’’ means— 
(A) any public lands currently under the 
ownership of the United States other than trib-
al lands, national forest reserves, national 
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parks, national recreation areas, national monu-
ments, congressional wilderness, national wild 
and scenic river system lands, congressionally 
designated wildlife refuge areas, and congres-
sionally designated wilderness study areas; and 
(B) any public lands ever owned by the 
United States before the land was disposed of 
or before the land became tribal lands, national 
forest reserves, national parks, national recre-
ation areas, national monuments, congressional 
wilderness, national wild and scenic river sys-
tem lands, congressionally designated wildlife 
refuge areas, and congressionally designated 
wilderness study areas. 
(8) The term ‘‘appropriate Federal agency’’ 
means the Federal land management agency with 
primary responsibility to manage and administer the 
public land over which a purported R.S. 2477 high-
way or segment thereof is located. 
(9) The term ‘‘official governmental aerial pho-
tograph’’ means any air-to-ground photographic 
image or copy thereof, created by or for, or main-
tained as part of the records of, any department, di-
vision, service, office, bureau, or other agency of the 
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