Agreement reached in volatile Elko feud

Thursday, June 22, 2000 | 11:20 a.m.

Elko County and U.S. Forest Service officials have reached a tentative agreement they hope will settle a long-standing and volatile feud over a tiny dirt road and an endangered fish in northeast Nevada.

If signed by all parties later this month, the agreement released this morning means Elko County could get permission to rebuild a washed-out section of road along the Jarbidge River north of Elko. And wildlife officials will be able to protect a threatened population of bull trout.

"This allows each party to respect their historic positions but allows us to move forward," Bob Vaught, chief of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, said today. "It allows us to better develop the relationship with people of Jarbidge and the relationship with Elko County."

It culminates four months of court-ordered mediation between the Forest Service and Elko County.

The four-year dispute fueled a firestorm of anger that divided the rural community. Some Forest Service employees said they and their families were refused service at local businesses, verbally ridiculed in public and ostracized from community groups.

Results of a federal probe released in February said no criminal acts were committed, but it acknowledged that most northeast Nevada foresters "view the work environment as unusual and antagonistic."

Gloria Flora resigned her post as Nevada's forest chief in October because she was frustrated by the treatment of her employees and by Elko County officials' refusal to recognize federal jurisdiction.

The controversy revolved around a 900-foot section of a 1.5-mile dirt road along the Jarbidge River that washed out in a 1995 flood.

Forest Service officials at first elected to rebuild the road but later rescinded that decision in 1997 because of an appeal by Trout Unlimited on behalf of the Jarbidge River bull trout population.

While Forest Service officials discussed alternatives to rebuilding the road, Elko County officials instructed their workers to rebuild it.

They contended the road was in existence and belonged to the county before the national forest system was created. Federal officials blocked the county's reconstruction effort, fearing any work would damage the bull trout habitat.

Frustrated by a lack of progress on reopening the road, State Rep. John Carpenter, an Elko Republican, and a group of residents vowed to restore it by hand last October. A federal restraining order stopped them and set up the mediation process that resulted in the agreement released today.

The agreement calls for granting Elko County a right-of-way to build the road, provided its construction meets all environmental and wildlife impact requirements. It also calls for creation of a bull trout recovery program, regular meetings among federal and county employees and an economic development program for the town of Jarbidge.

"We get the right-of-way now. But before we can work on it, they've got to do one of the environmental impact studies," Carpenter said. "I think it's a step in the right direction."

Elko County commissioners still must sign off on the document on Wednesday.

"(The agreement) is probably as good and as clean of a document as we could devise out of that process," Elko County Commissioner Roberta Skelton said today. Skelton participated in the mediation sessions.

The dispute has provided a rally cry for Westerners who oppose federal intervention. On July 4 a group of Elko residents plans to reopen the road using 13,000 shovels sent by supporters. Thousands are expected to attend.