Disputed roads near DeBeque confirmed as public

A Colorado District Court judge has ruled in favor of Garfield County in a case that determined two roads passing through High Lonesome Ranch near DeBeque are public rights-of-way under Revised Statute (R.S.) 2477, which was enacted as part of the Mining Act of 1866 to encourage highway development in the west. The ranch had argued that the roads are privately owned. A section of North Dry Fork Road, also known as County Road 200, and Middle Dry Fork Road, which forks off the former, have existed in virtually the same routes since the late 1800s, according to the ruling