Nevada’s Attorney General Adam Laxalt has joined forces with Elko County in a legal fight to open a stretch of road in northeast Nevada.
That road runs along the Jarbidge River. In 1999, the U.S. Forest Service closed stretches of the road to protect habitat for the bull trout, a fish protected by the federal Endangered Species Act.
The closure sparked an uprising among locals, who re-opened the road by force using shovels and heavy equipment.
They called it the “shovel brigade” and it became a symbol for anti-federal sentiment across the West.
So why did the state’s attorney general get involved?
Solicitor General Lawrence VanDyke told KNPR’s State of Nevada that the AG’s office waded into the issue because of its far-reaching implications.
“What attracted us to this case is this specific issue because if this is decided wrongly it could affect roads throughout the state,” VanDyke said.
The problem has been going on for several years, but it is now really down to environmentalists versus the county over laws passed a century ago.
VanDyke said the argument from environmentalists is that road construction depended on actions from the county commission, but the attorney general’s office disagrees. It believes the rules are connected to state law.
“The thing you have to keep in mind is what the circumstances were over a century ago. Over a century ago, our argument, is you have to look at how you make a road under state law,” VanDyke said.
Lawrence VanDyke, Solicitor General, Nevada
