Lawmakers will review Forest Service boss claims that workers harassed

Scott Sonner

Sunday, Nov. 14, 1999 | 4:15 a.m.

ELKO, Nev. - A congressman and a state assemblyman say they intend to find out whether there is any truth to claims by resigning Forest Service supervisor Gloria Flora that federal land managers are routinely harassed in rural Nevada.

State Assemblyman John Carpenter, who has clashed with Flora as the leader of a rebellion intended to rebuild a road in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, read part of her resignation letter during a hearing Saturday before the U.S. House Resources subcommittee on forests and forest health.

Flora spoke out against an "anti-federal fervor" and said she feared for the safety of her workers if she were to stay on the job as supervisor of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

"The attitude towards federal employees and federal laws in Nevada is pitiful. People in rural communities who do respect the law and accept responsibility for complying with it are often rebuked or ridiculed," Flora said in the open letter to her employees last week.

"I could go on and on with examples of those of you who have been castigated in public, shunned in your communities, refused service in restaurants, kicked out of motels ... just because of who you work for.

"People who support the federal government or conservation of natural resources ask that they not be identified for fear of retaliation," she wrote.

Carpenter, a Republican, said he was taking Flora's claims seriously but wasn't convinced they were true.

"We need to find out the truth here," Carpenter said. "We do not accept discrimination. If these things are happening in our town, I want to know."

Carpenter said he has launched a preliminary investigation on his own.

"And I found very little" to substantiate her claims, he said.

Carpenter said he "did hear some people were asked to leave" a hotel in Elko. He said he talked to the manager of the hotel and she "did not absolutely remember" but would be willing to look into it further if she was provided with names and dates.

An incident also may have occurred at a pizza parlor in Elko, but there are too many pizza parlors to track down, Carpenter said.

He said he's also reviewing some instances where federal workers' children may have been harassed at school, but "in those couple of instances the schools, I think, handled it appropriately."

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said he agreed with Carpenter.

"If these instances occurred we need to find out and put an end to it," Gibbons said. "No one is either above or beneath the law in Elko or any other place in this country."

Elko County Commissioner Mike Nannini said he didn't believe any of Flora's allegations were true.

"When I hear that I have to laugh. That kind of atmosphere in Elko County is not happening. It's wild statements," Nannini said.

Matt Holford, Nevada director of Trout Unlimited, said he agrees with Flora's statement that federal workers are harassed and environmental activists afraid to speak out in rural Nevada.

Holford said he had to change his telephone number because he was receiving threatening calls. He said county officials have threatened to sue him under laws usually aimed at organized crime on the basis that his effort to protect the bull trout has harmed Elko County's economy.

"There are different ways to intimidate," he said.

Jack Blackwell, Flora's direct supervisor as regional boss for the Forest Service's intermountain region, didn't address her letter at the hearing on Saturday. He said in a statement announcing her resignation last week:

"The Forest Service is in the middle of controversy about natural resource issues everywhere in the country, but the acrimony and attitude toward the agency, its employees and other federal employees in Nevada are extremely troubling to me."

Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck is looking into the allegations, his aide Chris Wood said.

Flora, based in Reno, was out of town and not immediately available for comment on Sunday.