Agreement leaves pioneer trail markers where they are

Thursday, Dec. 28, 2000 | 9:47 a.m.

"I think everyone involved wants to put this behind them and move forward on what their goals always were - the preservation and the marking of trails," said John Arrascada, attorney for Trails West.

John White, the lawyer for a group of Reno historians and authors who sued Trails West, said the agreement still must be signed by all parties involved. But he said the settlement is beneficial to both sides.

The dispute began in June when Trails West announced plans to change three trail markers it said were placed inaccurately in Reno in the 1970s by a local group called the Nevada Emigrant Trail Marking Committee.

Trails West also wanted to move or remove some of the other pioneer markers placed by Nevadans three decades ago.

The three markers in the Truckee Meadows would have been changed to designate a Comstock-era road dating to after 1859, rather than an 1840s pioneer trail.

Reno-based historians, including Stan Paher, Harold Curran and Marshall Fey, sued Trails West after they said preliminary negotiations with the group went nowhere.

The suit was to be heard in Washoe District Court before Judge Jim Hardesty. But both sides reached a confidential agreement before Hardesty ruled on pre-trial motions, according to a joint press release issued Wednesday.

"Both the earlier and the present Trails West emigrant trail marking programs will be preserved in ways that will be mutually beneficial," the release stated. "The settlement was responsive to community concerns on the location of trail markers in the Reno area and they will remain as they presently are.

"Both sides to the negotiated settlement intend to work together in the future for their common good and the preservation of historic trails in Nevada and California."