Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate Wednesday that would save about 40 cabins on federal land on the banks of Scofield Reservoir in western Carbon County.
The proposed legislation would transfer ownership of land under the structures from the federal Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) to individuals who, until about a decade ago, believed they had legal title to the ground.
 |
Join the Discussion |
 |
Post a Comment |
Rep. Jim Matheson will introduce identical legislation in the House of Representatives, according to a statement from Hatch’s office.
The issue centers on land purchases and leases dating to 1927. Homesteaders E.B. and Gertrude Jensen conveyed separate deeds to the Price River Water Conservancy District for construction of a dam and reservoir. In 1945, the water district, in turn, deeded the land to the BOR to build a new dam.
The federal agency leased some of that land to private interests. Some of those leases were later sold as deeds, which federal courts eventually ruled were invalid.
Nonetheless, over the years, people who assumed they had valid titles built cabins and paid annual property taxes. Some cabins were passed down in families for generations.
But in 2009, the BOR informed cabin owners they would have to vacate them. Agency officials feared a "2,500-year flood" could wash the shoreline structures off their foundations and into Scofield Dam’s spillway, said Wayne Pullan, deputy area manager for BOR’s Provo office.
Such a flood scenario would lead to failure of the dam and could endanger thousands of lives downstream, he said.
Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
