Forest Service chief meets with Nevadans; sees roadless opposition

Scott Sonner

Friday, Feb. 18, 2000 | 3:11 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck acknowledged Friday there is strong opposition to President Clinton's proposal to protect tens of millions of acres of roadless areas in national forests.

But, he said, there's currently no formal proposal on the table, and a variety of alternatives - reflecting more than 500,000 public comments - won't be issued until late spring.

"The roadless initiative has been a problem for the agency for a long time," Dombeck told reporters during a news conference in Elko.

"In different parts of the country there are different levels of interest in what people want to do," he said.

Clinton has suggested protecting as much as 50 million acres, but Dombeck said the Forest Service has made no such proposal.

"The directive we got from the president was to develop a proposal. We had a 60-day comment period and got about a half-million comments," he said.

A single, nationwide environmental impact statement will be prepared with a variety of alternative proposals, he said.

A washed-out road on a national forest has been at the center of a dispute over property rights and protection of the threatened bull trout in northeast Nevada.

Dombeck was visiting Elko and Reno on Friday and Saturday to follow up on an internal Forest Service investigation into allegations of dozens of instances of harassment and intimidation of agency workers in Nevada over the years.

Gloria Flora, former supervisor of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, resigned in November in protest of anti-government sentiments, saying she no longer could guarantee the safety of her employees.

Dombeck said after a meeting with Elko County officials Friday that agency workers and local officials alike want to "learn from the past" and bury their differences.

"I'm going to go back to Washington and tell (Agriculture Secretary) Dan Glickman I feel good about what I saw here," Dombeck told reporters.

"The thing I've learned in talking to both employees and county commissioners and others is really a strong desire to want to move ahead in a positive away," he said.

"My hope is if I would come back two years from now, I doubt we'd have all the problems solved, but at least we will have made some progress. I sense a strong desire that people want to learn from the past."

Dombeck defended Flora.

"Gloria is a 22-year veteran of the Forest Service, a wonderful employee. I've got to respect people who make hard decisions and stick with them," he said.

But he didn't offer much response to the report itself.

The agency's fact-finding team relayed accounts of employees that ranged from one who said a bulldozer operator tried to run her over, to others who say they were denied service in restaurants, refused admittance to a club, cursed at bus stops or ridiculed at public banquets.

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 said a new "high-level liaison" position will be established at the Forest Service in Elko "to work with the county so they always have the most up to date information and can communicate their concerns directly."

He said he was optimistic the court-ordered mediation process on the dispute over the bull trout and the South Canyon road near Jarbidge "will move the issue forward and hopefully end up with some level of resolution.

Dombeck said he had a "frank discussion" with local leaders.

"I've got some messages to take back. I see a real commitment of people wanting to work together. The reason we are all here is we care. We care about the land, we care about tradition, we care about the economy," he said.