CARSON CITY — Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt announced today the filing of a “friend of the court brief” in a federal court dispute between environmental groups and Elko County.
“Nevada’s voice deserves to be heard, and it is best heard through the State’s Attorney General,” said Laxalt in the brief.
The brief supports Elko County. In a lawsuit against the county, environmental groups The Wilderness Society (Washington, D.C.) and Great Old Broads for the Wilderness (Colorado) claim that the only way a public road could be created under Nevada law in the 19th century was by a county commission’s affirmative action, said Laxalt.
The Attorney General’s Office filed the brief saying that this interpretation of the law is incorrect.
“This public land access issue before the federal court is one of tremendous importance to all of Nevada, given that most of our state is federal public land,” said Laxalt. “Public access is vital for many different important activities in Nevada, including recreation, ranching, mining and a host of other activities. On behalf of Nevada, I am committed to fighting for our access to public lands.”
According to the Elko Daily Free Press:
The dispute stems from a grassroots effort to open (a) damaged road.
After a flood severely damaged a road near the Jarbidge Wilderness in 1995, the U.S. Forest Service and Elko County battled over access. A conservation group claimed traffic would impact bull trout in the Jarbidge River. Citizens organized as the Jarbidge Shovel Brigade removed boulders and reopened the road.
A lawsuit followed, naming Shovel Brigade organizers John Carpenter and Grant Gerber as defendants. The county was later also included as a defendant.
Before a settlement was reached around 2001, the Wilderness Society and Great Old Broads for Wilderness successfully intervened, but the case has lingered in federal court for years.
In its brief, the Attorney General’s Office argue that fundamental rules of statutory construction, Nevada Supreme Court precedent and a 1992 opinion by then-Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa all support the position currently taken by Elko County.
To read the friend of the court brief filed by the Nevada Attorney General’s Office, click here.
