Forest Service chief coming to Nevada

Scott Sonner

Thursday, Feb. 17, 2000 | 12:06 p.m.

RENO, Nev. - Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck is visiting Nevada Friday and Saturday to follow up on an investigation of alleged intimidation and harassment of agency workers.

Dombeck plans to meet with Forest Service employees in Elko and Reno. He also is prepared to discuss any and all topics related to land management during private round-table meetings with select citizens in both cities, aides said Thursday.

But he won't be addressing the topic foremost in the minds of his staunchest critics in Elko County:

Who owns a washed-out road in a national forest that the Forest Service says should not be rebuilt for fear of harm to the threatened bull trout?

"It is an item that is being mediated," Forest Service spokeswoman Erin O'Conner said Thursday.

"On the advice of counsel, we don't discuss anything that is being mediated, litigated, or otherwise," she said from Elko.

U.S. District Judge David Hagen ordered the Forest Service into mediation with Elko County leaders after he issued an injunction in October blocking citizen activists from rebuilding the road.

Elko lawyer Grant Gerber, one of the citizen activists who is a party to the mediation, said there's nothing in the mediation ground rules that bar any public discussion.

"We're not afraid to talk about it. In fact, we've insisted that the mediation be open to the media. There's nothing we are going to be saying that we don't want anyone to hear," Gerber said Thursday.

Dombeck is making good on a promise to meet with workers of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in the wake of the controversy swirling around the road near Jarbidge and the resignation of Forest Supervisor Gloria Flora.

Flora resigned in November, citing concerns about the safety of her employees in the face of strong anti-government sentiments in Nevada.

Dombeck ordered an investigative team to Nevada in December, which outlined in a report earlier this month dozens of alleged incidents of harassment and intimidation of agency workers in recent years based solely on who they work for.

The agency team concluded none of the allegations rose to the level of warranting pursuit of criminal charges. It also determined none of the workers currently is in any danger.

Dombeck plans "public round table discussions" in Elko Friday and in Reno on Saturday, a Forest Service news release said.

"The purpose of these dialogues is to assist Dombeck in understanding Nevada's diverse perspectives on Forest Service land management issues," the statement said.

Dombeck has scheduled time with news reporters in Elko and Sparks on Friday, but the public round tables will actually be private.

That's because "we want to encourage a free flowing discussion," Forest Service spokeswoman Christy Kalkowski said Thursday.

"If we add media to a small round table, people may not be as open or candid as they might otherwise be," she said.

Forest Service officials declined to release the names of the dozen or so citizens who will be meeting with Dombeck in each city.

They will include a "diverse mix" of special interest groups, county commissioners, tribal representatives and academic leaders, Kalkowski said.