Road to remain open pending bypass

By Pat Hansen - 09/05/2008

DEER LODGE — A judge has ordered that the preliminary injunction will remain in effect keeping Carten Creek Road, in Powell County, open for private and public use without locked gates or other obstructions.

The order filed this week by Deer Lodge District Judge Ray Dayton stays any further court proceedings, and reiterates the agreement reached by both parties on April 28. The only exception allows Abel Trust and Dutton Hereford Ranch to close the road to public travel only when state lands are closed for fire protection.

The controversy began in 2003 when Ed Abel of Abel Trust installed locked gates across the road at both ends of his property. Dean Dutton installed a locked gate across the road in December 2006.

Abel and Dutton claimed the road, a non-maintained road that leaves Interstate 90 near Gold Creek, is private with the exception of 2.25 miles that are maintained by the county.

The defendants — Dwight and Amy Gappert, Ben and Barbara Davis, Harry and Maxine Satchell, all property owners in Section 18, John Doe public and Powell County — contended that property owners have used the Carten Creek Road to access individual parcels of land since the 1920s when the federal government sold land grants in the area. For years the public has used the road to access Bureau of Land Management and state lands for logging and hunting.

According to the order, the road will remain open until the BLM completes construction of the Cabin Spring Hill bypass road at the end of Brock Creek Road, east of Carten Creek.

Dayton noted in his order that the bypass road will connect BLM land through a public easement given to the county by several private entities. This means that with the new bypass, people can access the same land as now accessed on the Carten Creek Road.

The order stipulates that Abel Trust will deposit $20,000 and Dutton Hereford Ranch $5,000 into a trust account to be used exclusively to pay costs associated with construction of the by-pass.

When the bypass road is completed, Carten Creek Road, where it crosses the plaintiffs' property, will thereafter be closed to public travel.

The order will remain in effect until the bypass road is completed or April 28, 2010 — which ever occurs first.

If the road is not completed by that time, a two-year extension of the order may be requested from the court by showing that reasonable progress has been made towards its completion.

— Correspondent Pat Hansen may be reached via e-mail at phansen@blackfoot.net