Judge Asked to Stop Plans of Road-Building ‘Brigade’

Government lawyers asked a federal judge Tuesday to stop a rebellion over a remote road in northeastern Nevada planned for the July Fourth holiday.

The motion seeks an order that would prohibit members of the “Shovel Brigade” from venturing onto National Forest Service land to rebuild a disputed road near the tiny town of Jarbidge.

The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge David Hagen, who issued the order that halted a similar road-building party in October. It was not immediately known when Hagen would rule on the motion or if he would schedule a hearing--not that it appears to matter to the Shovel Brigade.

Group leader Demar Dahl issued a statement saying a court order would not stop the work planned to reopen the South Canyon Road. The road on national forest land runs along the Jarbidge River, home to the threatened bull trout.

“It has always been the position of many people across the West that the road will be opened, and that determination is still in place,” Dahl said, insisting that no federal permits are needed and no laws will be broken. But Assistant U.S. Atty. Steve Myhre said the government seeks to prevent actions that require a permit the activists have not sought.

The motion cites potential violations of the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act as justification for the restraining order.

“The central thrust is he needs to file for a permit; he hasn’t done so, so he needs to stay off the land,” Myhre said.

The feud centers on a 1.5-mile stretch of dirt road in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest that leads to a campground at the edge of a wilderness area. The road was washed out by floods in 1995.

Elko County officials contend that the road is theirs because it existed long before the national forest was formed.

The dispute with the U.S. Forest Service escalated last fall, gaining national attention and becoming a symbol of rural conflicts with federal land managers. In January, more than 10,000 shovels were donated to the county in a gesture of support from sympathizers throughout the West.

Brigade organizers say those tools will be used to reopen the road July 3-4, when organizers expect 3,000 to 5,000 people to turn out.

Elko County and the Justice Department, representing the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have been in court-ordered mediation in an ongoing dispute over who owns the road and whether it can be rebuilt without harming the southernmost population of the threatened bull trout.

A proposed compromise announced last week could allow the road to be rebuilt in a new location after environmental impact studies are conducted. The agreement does not give the county ownership of the road that it sought, while environmentalists claim it doesn’t do enough to protect the fish.