Posted on 02/05/2002 4:52:38 AM PST by brityank
Forest Service to probe road allegations
By JEFFRY MULLINS, Associate EditorELKO -- Forest Service Supervisor Bob Vaught has called for an investigation into allegations the agency tried to deceive Elko County officials on the status of a road cutting through private property.
The county's complaints were aired in a Jan. 24 article in the Elko Daily Free Press. Commissioner Brad Roberts claimed the Forest Service submitted bogus maps and a phony affidavit to support its claim of a public right-of-way on a section of the road near the Humboldt National Forest border.
A Jan. 30 letter from Vaught, head of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, calls for the regional forester to examine the road report's accuracy and whether any inappropriate behavior or misconduct was involved.
In his letter, Vaught calls for specialists to examine the Forest Service documents.
"The individuals looking into this issue should have the knowledge and skills necessary to determine the accuracy and validity of the documents provided to the county," he wrote.
He added, "If the documents or information provided to the county are determined to have been intentionally falsified or misrepresented, there needs to be an investigation into any possible inappropriate behavior or misconduct on the part of Forest Service officials."
The road report on file at the county manager's office came from the agency's Mountain City District and was signed by District Ranger Scott Bell.
Private surveyor Bill Price, who was hired by the county to research the road's status, said he located an original map that didn't match one submitted by the Forest Service. He also found information indicating a man credited with writing a 1995 affidavit had died in 1988.
Also uncovered was evidence the Forest Service had considered purchasing rights-of-way from private landowners in 1960, prior to the attempt in the mid-1990s to have the road declared a public route.
The county initially sided with the Forest Service and ordered the locks cut on several gates in October 2000. Following Price's investigation, commissioners rescinded their order and allowed private land owners to resume control of the gates in February 2001.
Jack Troyer is the acting regional forester in Region 4, which includes the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. Questions directed to Troyer were forwarded to the agency's department of strategic communications, where deputy director Erin O'Connor confirmed this morning that an investigation would be conducted.
She said if the information is found to be inaccurate, the agency will share the "new" information with the county.
O'Connor, who was the Forest Service's public affairs officer in Elko during the road negotiations, said the agency's relations with Elko County remain a "top priority."
Gee. What a surprise. Not!
"Private surveyor Bill Price, who was hired by the county to research the road's status, said he located an original map that didn't match one submitted by the Forest Service. He also found information indicating a man credited with writing a 1995 affidavit had died in 1988.""Gee. What a surprise. Not!"
Guys, Now, not only are dead people voting for the corrupt bastards, they're writing policy papers for "them". Peace and love, George.
This is just another example of why we need to maintain the majority of the House of Representatives and then elect enough non Rinos to control the senate.
Then, in 2003, they need to pass a bill and President Bush sign it re all civil service employees.
The bill would be a very simple one. All civil service employees and department heads over a GS7 level have to submit a letter of resignation 4 weeks before a president is sworn in. The first time, it would require letters of resignation immediately to enable President Bush to flush the toilets to get rid of these criminals getting paid by our tax $'s!
Then the president has 2 years to accept those letters of resignation. If he accepts, there is no recourse by those who leave. They would get severance pay and be escorted off of federal property where they work by armed guards.
Now we can't fire them nor shoot them. They can plant lynx hairs, lie about fish, lie about water, fake maps and only God knows what else.
One other simple addition to the bill would be that all federal employees who commit a crime and break the law while on duty, there would be no statue of limitations. Commit the crime and you can go to jail 20-30 years later. Then add huge fines and loss of pension to really drive this new found ethics home!
ELKO - Would U.S. Forest Service officials deliberately falsify data or documents in order to influence land management decisions?
Congressmen are divided on the issue after listening to testimony from state and federal officials accused of submitting captive lynx fur to a laboratory as part of a government study of the threatened species' potential habitat.
But here in Elko, some county officials are convinced the Forest Service tried to deceive them - and they say they have evidence to prove it.
An investigation into ownership of roads cutting through IL Ranch property near national forest boundaries in northern Elko County turned up some pretty strange papers, including a map with the wrong date on it, a map with a road drawn in by hand and an affidavit apparently written by a man who had been dead for eight years, county officials said.
County Commissioner Brad Roberts said he believes the county was deliberately presented false evidence by Forest Service officials who wanted access through private land without paying for it.
"We caught 'em dead to rights," Roberts said.
And he has taken his complaint to Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., hoping it will be considered along with other allegations of fraud in federal land management agencies.
One of the maps submitted to the county is clearly labeled 1870 but it matches one drawn in 1901. The dates are significant because they can be used to prove when a road was opened to public access.
The evidence may be presented to congressmen investigating the lynx incident.
"I said there wasn't a heck of a lot of difference between that and listing the bull trout without any scientific evidence, or forging maps to get across private land in the Columbia Basin," Roberts said.
A twisted road
Most Elkoans are familiar with the South Canyon Road saga. The recreational access road was washed out in 1995 and repairs were held up when an environmental group convinced the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to declare the bull trout a protected species.
In order for the county to assert its right to repair the road, it had to prove that it was used for public access under 19th-century mining law.
Meanwhile, another war was brewing over a road through the Columbia Basin. It runs from Deep Creek through private property to the Mountain City Highway. In this case, Elko County and Forest Service were on the same side - both wanted the road open to the public, especially during hunting season.
But people with mining claims inside the Humboldt National Forest wanted access through the IL ranch to get to their claims. Western Exploration, which had leased the property with an option to purchase it, locked the gates in the fall of 2000 - just in time for deer season.
The Forest Service had already submitted a huge document to the county asserting the road was in the public domain. The county agreed and ordered sheriff's deputies to cut the locks.
Western Exploration hired land surveyor Bill Price of Elko to investigate. Price, who also helped the county with its probe into the South Canyon Road, uncovered evidence of altered maps and the mysterious affidavit.
Following a presentation by Western Exploration's attorney in February, commissioners were convinced they had been duped. They reversed their decision, apologized to the landowners and allowed them to lock the gates again.
"They tried to use the county to get access across private land," Roberts said.
The documents submitted to the county were signed by Mountain City District Ranger Scott Bell, who was unavailable for comment. A receptionist at the Forest Service office in Elko said he wasn't due back until March.
Mystery man
One of the Forest Service's supporting documents was an affidavit from a "Louie Burner" stating that mining had taken place in Blue Jacket district north of Tuscarora from 1869 through 1995.
The Blue Jacket road also was used for hauling freight and mail as early as 1869, the affidavit said.
But Price examined historical records and concluded that the facts were incorrect - Burner had misspelled his own first name, mistaken his father for his grandfather, and wrote about events that occurred eight years after his death.
Evidence Price collected included a family tree containing a "Lewie Burner" who was the son, not grandson, of Victor Burner. Local historian Edna Patterson had written an article about the family based on interviews conducted in 1955.
He also found a death certificate and obituary from the Elko Daily Free Press indicating Lewie Burner had died in 1988.
Adding to the mystery was a newspaper obituary for Victor Burner in which his surviving offspring were listed. Lewie's name was misspelled "Louie."
Someone wanting to verify the legitimacy of the affidavit would check the signature. In the photocopy delivered to the county, however, the bottom line is cut off and no signature is visible.
The confusion surrounding the affidavit is compounded by more errors or deceptions, including the title of the report itself. It is contained in a thick, three-ring notebook with a cover sheet calling it a report on Blue Jacket Road No. 729, but the title sheet inside the notebook says it is a report on Blue Jacket Road No. 170.
Map magic
When Price started poring over the voluminous document, he found most of the entries didn't even apply to the road in question.
The few that did included maps that Price investigated.
One is clearly labeled 1870, but when Price sought out the original stored on microfiche at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management office, it looked nothing like the map submitted by the Forest Service. On closer inspection, Price noticed that the photocopy submitted by the Forest Service cut off the information at the bottom where the date is printed.
In the original 1870 map, the area hadn't even been surveyed, Price said, so the roads may have been built after the turn of the century.
"This is a 20th century map and they're trying to make a 19th century claim," he said.
Another map appears to have been produced mechanically but contains a road drawn in by hand. Yet another has a segment of road highlighted, but it's the wrong road.
Documents obtained from the National Archives indicate the Forest Service had looked at some of the private properties in 1960 with the intent of purchasing rights of way. The report also estimates the level of resistance expected from property owners, with some labeled "difficult to acquire" or "(owner) may resist."
"For 40 years, they've wanted to gain access through here," Roberts said.
With a few small land trades the agency could have gained access to the forest without building any new roads, he said, which would be in line with the agency's roadless initiative.
However, an access road into the area already existed. And Roberts should know - he built it 10 years ago for an Independence Mining Corp. exploration project prior to becoming a county commissioner.
But those wanting to get to their mining claims couldn't use the road because it had been blocked off by the Forest Service, Roberts claims.
That allegation was denied in a Dec. 4, 2000, letter from Bell, who said "This road is neither locked or gated."
He was right, in a sense. Roberts said the road had a fence built across it.
Politics of deception
When the county and Forest Service began discussing the issue in 1996, the two governmental agencies were working together to open the road, according to former County Manager George Boucher.
"The county has always worked to establish access to public lands," Boucher said Wednesday. At one point, eminent domain proceedings were initiated against the landowner.
"We didn't have any ulterior motives or suspicions," Boucher said.
That was before he saw the evidence collected by Price.
"It has been determined now that it's questionable" Boucher said of the validity of documents presented by the Forest Service.
Roberts said the tactic appears to be the opposite of what the agency did at South Canyon, where it asserted the road was not a valid public access. But the result in both cases was a matter of the agency attempting to assert control, he added.
Jarbidge Shovel Brigade spokesman Rick Schwarz agreed.
"If you get a right of way, you get to travel on the right of way," he said. "Then when someone else wants to mess around with that, they can't. Control is the name of the game - if they can control you, then you don't have the rights you had before."
Price believes there might be another motive. He has heard rumors that the Forest Service is considering a land exchange involving the property.
If the public right of way had been established, that would have lessened the value of the private land considerably, he said.
This is asking the thief to do a search of his own home for stolen property!
There are entirely too many enviro-wackos on the USDA payroll.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.