MARK SMITH / PVT Paul McFarland of Friends of the Inyo tries to make sense of Inyo County's claim to an alleged road in Death Valley National Park Advertisement

SHOSHONE, Calif. -- Efforts by Inyo County, Calif., to acquire a half-mile of alleged road in the northern reaches of Death Valley National Park may, in the end, determine whether a law from the 19th century can upstage the much more recent Wilderness Act, enacted in 1964.

The law in question is referred to as SR 2477 and was originally passed by Congress in 1866, to encourage settlement of the Western states through development of a system of highways.

It says, in total: "The right-of-way for the construction of highways across public lands not otherwise reserved for public purposes is hereby granted."

The law was repealed in 1976, but that repeal was subject to "valid existing rights," and that apparently has left the whole idea of "valid existing rights" open to broad interpretation.

Inyo County's board of supervisors is trying to acquire a half-mile of what it claims is a public road in a wilderness area, said Paul McFarland, executive director of the Friends of the Inyo, during the weekend's wide-ranging meeting of the Sierra Club's wilderness and desert committees.

"There's nothing there right now," he said. "It doesn't go to any identifiable destination other than a cliff. Nobody's really sure what they're claiming or where."

Three other roads had been claimed by Inyo, but those claims were tossed out by the courts. The Last Chance Canyon route is what remains in dispute. The northwest-southeast defile is hard by the Nevada-California border roughly west of Gold Point.

McFarland encouraged those in attendance, and especially those living in Inyo County, to address the supervisors about the issue.

Inyo County, he said, is virtually bankrupt, yet it is energetically pursuing the road, spending thousands of dollars while it hasn't "taken care of the road in front of your house."

It may very well end up spending tens of thousands of dollars before the court fight is done, he said.

In the words of Susan Sorrells, founder of the Amargosa Conservancy, "They can hardly put diesel in their trucks for their employees or help fund organizations," but they continue to pursue their court claim.

She said the board of supervisors is difficult where environmental issues are concerned but nevertheless encouraged people to contact them.

One attendee remarked that it is his understanding the road ends at a cliff, "so it's literally a road to nowhere."

The two-day meeting included reports on a variety of issues, from a solar-generating station planned for the Ivanpah area to a San Bernardino County, Calif., sewage sludge dump update, to a report on the progress of efforts to have the Amargosa River declared a wild and scenic river.