Agate Fossil Beds Administrative History

Cooperative Agreement with Sioux County, 1984

With visitation gradually increasing, one of the most irksome management problems in the 1970s and early 1980s is the egregious condition of the Sioux County Road through the monument. Beginning in 1977, Sioux County's traditionally sporadic maintenance of the three-mile gravel access road increased to meet the upswing in visitation to Agate Fossil Beds. The expense to maintain this roadway segment and time it takes away from other projects in the huge northwest Nebraska county is a drain on the road department's budget. From the county's perspective, the National Park Service should help fund road maintenance. At the very least, the Service should provide the gravel every five to eight years for the county to regrade the road free-of-charge. The county wanted to use the gravel pit inside the monument which historically was used for this purpose. When the gravel pit became Service property, however, the park denied this gravel source to the county. Compounding the problem further was Grayson Meade's refusal to sell Sioux County any gravel from the Agate Springs Ranch's rock quarry for use on roads inside the national monument. County government expressed its concern about the escalating cost of hauling gravel from distant sources to Agate Fossil Beds.

Complaints from park visitors rise proportionally as the road deteriorates following adverse weather or heavy summertime usage. Although to the layman using an onsite gravel source seems ideal, the Service's resource protection policies prohibit further exploitation of the old gravel pit. Neither can funding be used to improve non-Federal property, i.e. the Sioux County Road right-of-way. Even if it were sanctioned, the fiscal restraint environment made such an expenditure dubious.

Undaunted, Superintendent Jerry Banta and Management Assistant John Rapier met with the Sioux County Board of Commissioners in Harrison on November 1, 1982. Both sides aired their positions on the problem. Also present was County Attorney John Skavdahl who stated the county would continue to maintain the road, but could not afford to make any major improvements. Banta restated the Service's long-standing offer to enter into a cooperative agreement with Sioux County to provide minor maintenance on the three-mile segment of road.

The two sides discussed possible steps leading to an agreement and the necessity of concurrent jurisdiction permitting the Federal Government to improve the road. After much discussion, it was agreed to meet again to discuss the issue further. Banta noted, "The meeting was cordial at all times and generally directed toward problem solving. However, it appears we are some distance yet from reaching a satisfactory agreement for the Park." [35]

Subsequent meetings were held to resolve the problem. A June 9, 1982, Solicitor's opinion held that no more than $1,000 each year should be expended to assist in minor road maintenance. In a bewildering twist, Sioux County Commissioners did an about-face and dropped their request for funding and pushed for a gravel source within the monument. [36]

In 1983, the two sides finally negotiated a tentative agreement. The Service followed the Solicitor's opinion and agreed to allocate funds up to $1,000 to Sioux County each year to assist with minor road maintenance to mitigate the impact of park visitor usage. Sioux County officials pledged to seek legislation in Lincoln to secure concurrent jurisdiction for the National Park Service. [37] The official agreement was signed September 4, 1984. The cooperative agreement (CA-6710-4-8014) includes a five-year renewal clause. [38]

A bill, drafted and introduced in the Nebraska Legislature in 1984, [39] passed in early 1985, extending concurrent jurisdiction to all National Park Service units in the State: Agate Fossil Beds and Scotts Bluff National Monuments, and Homestead National Monument of America. A Solicitor's opinion subsequently declared the measure flawed, and until amended by the unicameral, the National Park Service will not accept concurrent jurisdiction from the State. [40]