Judge orders mediation in Elko County road, fish dispute

Wednesday, Oct. 27, 1999 | 11:09 a.m.

U.S. District Court Judge David W. Hagen decided the county is part of the legal battle currently being waged between the Justice Department and three citizens who want to lead a volunteer work project to reconstruct the remote South Canyon Road near Jarbidge.

"In order to make effective any attempt at dispute resolution in this case it is obvious to the court that Elko County is a necessary party," Hagen said in a court order.

The road along the Jarbidge River, which washed out in a 1995 flood, is within the boundaries of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

But county officials say they don't recognize federal jurisdiction over the road because it was there long before the national forest was established in the early 1900s.

Forest Service scientists say reconstruction of the road would accelerate soil erosion to the detriment of the threatened bull trout.

Elko County Commission Chairman Tony Lesperance said this week he's open to mediation.

"I have no fear of any of these actions as long as the truth is allowed to come out," Lesperance said. "If we're going to have a kangaroo court where the truth can't come out, I guess that's a different story. But I'll rest our case on the facts of the matter any place and any time."

Hagen's order came late last week despite the Elko County Commission's decision to try to stay out of the dispute involving the local citizens, led by state Assemblyman John Carpenter.

Hagen wants all parties to meet with a representative of the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, which Congress established last year.

"The court finds the institute virtually tailor-made for the resolution of this unfortunate conflict between the citizens and the U.S. Forest Service," the judge said.

At the request of the Justice Department, Hagen issued a temporary restraining order earlier this month that blocked the work party from rebuilding the road by hand on Oct. 9.

He had scheduled a hearing last week to decide whether to grant a permanent injunction, but that hearing has been postponed.

Instead, Hagen has given Elko County until Nov. 16 to file documents supporting its position and set Nov. 17 for a telephonic mediation conference.

Meanwhile, Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage, R-Idaho, has tentatively set Nov. 13 for a special congressional hearing in Elko on the topic at the request of Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev. She is chairman of the House Resources subcommittee on forests and forest health.

Similarly, Elko County Commissioners have scheduled a statutory fact-finding inquiry of their own for Nov. 18-19.