There has been no official court ruling on the French Creek Quiet Title case, but observers and the Methow Valley News say the matter appears to be heading for a trial.

While an old fashioned trial may sound appealing, there is hidden danger in this approach that potentially jeopardizes every public “back road” that crosses private land.

In a nutshell: Okanogan County established its road system in 1955, in response to state law, by publishing a roster of roads that were in use by the public at that time. The roster was undisputed and stands today as the basis for funding the county receives from the state.

63 years later, the Quiet Title challenge to French Creek Road is attempting to put the County’s entire 1955 roster “on trial,” saying that roads crossing private land have been private all along – unless the public can prove otherwise.

Okanogan Open Roads Coalition (OORC) has intervened on the side of the County and taxpayers. Their position is that by law, the county and the public do not need to prove that a road is public – the burden is on the private company to prove that it’s not.

If this case is allowed to proceed to trial without the County or state’s objection, it opens the door to endless litigation, as private companies attempt to tie up all public access to profitable public lands, and not just in Okanogan County.
OORC has done most of the county’s work for them so far, at great expense. It is time for the county to step up and defend its historic road system, and to ask the state for help protecting public access.

What you can do:

Contact your County Commissioners and the Prosecuting Attorney and let them know that you expect them to defend our county’s back roads from privatization, starting with French Creek Road. There is no time to waste.

The citizens alone can not hold back a giant corporation from privatizing our access: we need the county and state to stand up for us!