Forest Service supervisor criticizes state assemblyman

Scott Sonner

Wednesday, Oct. 6, 1999 | 10:03 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - The Forest Service supervisor embroiled in a dispute with Elko County over bull trout protection lashed out at the state politician leading a citizen revolt at the Jarbidge River this weekend.

"I'm shocked and appalled that any individual, particularly a state assemblyman and the county chairman of the Republican Party, would choose to undertake an illegal action against essentially the American people," said Gloria Flora, supervisor of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

Assemblyman John Carpenter, R-Elko, and O.Q. "Chris" Johnson, chairman of the Elko County Republican Central Committee, say they'll lead hundreds of volunteers to Jarbidge this weekend to reconstruct the South Canyon Road.

"We just want that road to be open. People need to be able to use their national forests," Carpenter said Monday.

"As far as I know, it's just a group of citizens that are going up there and repair a county road," he said.

The Forest Service maintains the soil erosion resulting from reconstruction of the 1.5-mile section of road would threaten the survival of the southernmost population of bull trout in North America.

"These citizens are not going to be there because they want to drive a full-sized vehicle to the trailhead. That is irrelevant. The reason they are there is civil disobedience," Flora said Tuesday.

"We fully support free speech and freedom of expression but this is not a protest with signs and picketing and so forth. These are people who are putting themselves at risk of potential prosecution for damage to government property," she said.

Nevada Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa has asked Elko County officials to help stop the rebellion as the county continues a court battle with the state over the road.

"Given the remote setting and the volatility of the issue, I suggest such a confrontation could be dangerous and should be discouraged," she said in a letter to Elko County District Attorney Gary Woodbury.

Woodbury said he was formulating a response Tuesday.

"The Elko County sheriff is going up there and their intention is to keep the peace," Woodbury said. He said the road was county property before the national forest was established sometime between 1906 and 1909.

"The road has been there for way, way over 100 years," Carpenter said.

"Sheep herders were using it and miners and cowboys," he said. He said Del Papa's warning was "out of line.

"This is an absolute peaceful work party. We don't advocate violence and never will," Carpenter said.

County officials emphasized they are playing no role in the citizen uprising.

"Basically they are good people, just citizens who have an issue against the federal government," said Elko County Sheriff Neil Harris, who considers the project an act of civil disobedience.

But Del Papa said she's especially worried because deer season is open and the canyon will be filled with hunters.

"The presence of so many pick-and-shovel wielding citizens in the midst of prime big game habitat at its peak use will not only detract from the hunt, but will also add yet another layer of conflict to an unpredictable situation," she said.

Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said he has talked with Kathryn Landreth, U.S. attorney for Nevada, and is confident federal prosecutors will "respond prudently.

"They know how potentially incendiary it is," Bryan said.

"What makes this potentially dangerous is there are a number of groups from out of state that may seize on this as an opportunity to exploit this situation. That would be, I think, very volatile," he said.

Matt Holford, chairman of Trout Unlimited's Nevada Council, said the work project comes in the middle of the bull trout's spawning season.

"They have not received any of the permits required or planned any mitigation for their activities. They are not going to put any of the common engineering practices into play. They are just going to go up there and going to be moving dirt willy nilly," he said.