Page: can00009.txt State: Nevada County: Nye Item: Carver disputes USFS damage claim Date: 10/25/97 Summary: Notes: A version of this report first appeared in the Elko Daily Free Press. Source: Don Bowman ------------------------------------------------------------ 10/25/97 CARVER DISPUTES USFS DAMAGE CLAIM by Don Bowman County Action News Service Nye County, Nevada -- The battle between Nye County Commissioner Richard Carver and the federal government over the Jefferson Canyon Road has begun to escalate again. In September, the U.S. Forest Service charged Carver and Nye County with destruction of $82,855.68 worth of archeological resources, supposedly incurred during the Jefferson Canyon Road opening. The charges brought back an issue that had almost died. Carver has replied with a letter stating that the Archeological Resources Protection Act clearly exempts persons doing general earthmoving excavation on county roads. His October 17 reply to the Forest Service points out that the federal agency does not have authority to issue a permit for road work or maintenance on a county road under ARPA. Carver's letter also disputes the evidence behind the USFS damage bill and suggests the possibility of falsification of evidence, fraudulent claims and civil rights violations by federal agency employees. In his concluding statements Carver wrote, "I believe it to be in the best interest of everyone involved that the USFS admit they are in error, drop the ARPA violation, and recognize that the Ione/Belmont, Austin/Belmont stage route is a NYE COUNTY ROAD." (Carver's emphasis.) He goes on to say, "We are still no better off that we were in 1992 when Nye County stepped into this arena. It appears we still have to deal with the arrogant attitudes of SOME federal employees, who think they are better than God, can ignore the Constitution, are above the law and can do whatever they please and get away with it." (The word "some" is underlined in Carver's letter.) Supervisor of the USFS Tonopah District Tony Valdez says that he believes there may be a settlement in the near future. Valdez explained that he was limited in what he could say about the issue. He said that Nye County has made a request to negotiate the dispute and that the USFS has granted 60 days for the formal process. Valdez said he thought there would be a positive resolution for both sides. While this was going on a similar case was being addressed by the Federal District Court in Utah. The Bureau of Land Management has charged three Utah counties -- San Juan, Kane and Garfield -- with failing to obtain permits to do road work in Wilderness Study Areas. Those WSAs have recently been incorporated into the new Escalante - Grand Staircase National Monument. The counties had done some realignments, taking out blind curves and widening where they had deemed it necessary. Garfield County Commissioner Louise Liston said that the work was done with a common sense approach and was necessary maintenance. A memorandum decision handed down in the case by Judge David Sam denied the BLM's motion to strike the counties' defense that RS 2477 roads are vested in the counties and that no BLM permits are required for maintenance or realignment. The decision states, "In sum, the court is of the opinion that the United States has failed in its burden of proof as the moving party that Kane County's road construction activities are beyond the scope of it's right-of-way, such that BLM authorization is required." He went on to say that the U.S. failed to cite any statute or regulation that required the county to obtain authorization before undertaking "any road work which would expand or modify an existing intrusion on public lands." Eureka County (Nevada) Deputy District Attorney Zane Miles, who is watching the Utah case, said that with the intervention by the Sierra Club and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance it may be another two years before the underlying cases are decided. Zane stated that the case shows that the counties should stick with their claim of jurisdiction over the roads because the claim is a valid one. On Friday, November 7, Reno KOH Radio talk show host Brian Maloney opened discussion about a nationally distributed newspaper story reporting the assessment against Carver. The program was flooded with calls in support of the commissioner. By the following Tuesday, the station had a steady inpouring of calls from people asking where they could send money for the defense of Carver's position. The Toiyabe Chapter of People for the West in Austin, Nevada agreed to establish a fund for the cause. The chapter says that any moneys not needed for the Carver issue will be used for defense against other federal encroachments. Maloney said that the Forest Service should not have rekindled the fire on the Jefferson Canyon road. Bolstered by the influx of support, he said, "If the Forest Service wants a fire, we will give them a fire." If the Forest Service drops the charges, it may end the dispute. If not, Carver says he is not backing down. Committed to asserting the county's right to maintain its roads, Carver says he will stand fast. Carver's final sentence in his letter shows he is sticking to his guns: "When I am wrong, I will be the first to admit it, but when I am right, I will never, never, never give up." ----------------------------------------------------------------- Don Bowman reports land rights news for The Nevada Rancher, Livestock Market Digest, the Elko Daily Free Press and other publications. His book "The Battle of Jefferson Canyon and Other Skirmishes in the War on the West" (ISBN 0-9652738-0-6, LC 96-92273, 1996, Spur, Inc., 2040 Reno Highway, Fallon, Nevada 89406, voice: 702.423.6197, fax: 702.428.1524) details the facts behind the headlines in Nye county and across the rural West. -----------------------------------------------------------------