Talks resume in Elko County, Forest Service fight

Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2001 | 6:10 a.m.

Lawyers for the U.S. Attorney's Office, representing the Forest Service, and county officials planned to meet over two days in a private settlement conference with U.S. Magistrate Robert McQuaid.

They are trying to determine whether there is enough common ground to continue talks or whether federal prosecutors will resume a civil lawsuit in the battle over jurisdiction of the South Canyon Road and protection of the threatened bull trout in the Jarbidge River.

Leaders of the so-called Jarbidge Shovel Brigade, a citizens group determined to reopen the washed-out road, say they unearthed a 1894 mining claim that bolsters their argument the county owns the road.

State Assemblyman John Carpenter, R-Elko, said he was optimistic the new round of talks would yield a settlement.

"Hopefully with all the evidence we have, the government will see that the road belongs to the county and the public and we can get on with repairing the road," Carpenter said Tuesday.

"There's overwhelming evidence that shows the road was there before the Forest Service was established," he said.

The road borders the river in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest near the Idaho border. Various parts of the national forest were established from 1905 to 1909.

The Forest Service maintains that while the county has free access to the road, the government owns it. The agency backed off initial plans to repair the road, which washed out in a 1995 flood, after federal biologists concluded the work would harm the threatened bull trout.

Forest Service spokeswoman Erin O'Conner said agency officials could not discuss details of the 1894 mining claim because the case is in mediation. But she said the agency has not changed its position.

"The Forest Service still does not agree with Elko County's claim," she said Wednesday.