The open road: Court sides with state in White Peak road dispute

The 8th Judicial Court in Taos has sided with the state of New Mexico, bringing an end to a long-simmering dispute over access to public lands in a remote wilderness area in Northern New Mexico.

District Judge Sarah Backus issued a ruling Aug. 29 in the White Peak case, declaring several roads in the rugged backwoods in the public domain even though those roads cross through private property. The ruling also stops the landowner, David Stanley, from stopping people from using the roads.

The case saw a two-week non-jury trial earlier this year. The state land around White Peak, also known as White’s Peak, is popular with hunters and lies between Colfax and Mora counties in Northeastern New Mexico.

Stanley, who owns 15,000 acres in the area, filed the case seven years ago against the Colfax and Mora County commissioners, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and the state Department of Transportation. He sought to establish his ownership over the roads through a legal process known as quiet title.

The case dealt with 11 roads in the White Peak area, most notably Red Hill Road, State Road 199 and Cañada Bonita Road.

The state, represented by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office, argued that various roads in the area were well-established public thoroughfares and during the trial presented evidence dating back more than 100 years.

“Changes in the exact location of (the roads) on the ground from 1880s to the present are reasonable deviations because since its establishment the road has connected the same points and maintains the same essential shape and route of travel, and does not destroy the identity of the road as originally laid out and used,” read the ruling from Backus.