Monday, March 10, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
MOST NEVADANS have been shrugging off some of the strange stories coming out of Elko County. The district attorney won't prosecute drunk drivers arrested at a roadblock, and constant attacks on anything done by state and federal officials working in the county are but a few of the actions that have been reported. "Oh, that's just some more foolishness out of Elko," other Nevadans are prone to remark. Sounds like people in Southern Idaho evaluating the extremist groups attracted to the northern part of their state.
But what about the moderate and responsible residents of Elko, how do they feel about what's taking place? Until recently, they haven't said much, but those days are possibly coming to an end. The roadblock issue and a more recent grand jury "presentment" have upset more than a few of the people living in that area. You have to believe it's also beginning to bother some people doing business in Elko.
Two years ago, an Elko businessman wrote the county commissioners, asking them to call a grand jury because of a conspiracy between environmental groups and state and federal conservation agencies which was a threat to the economy. In other words, those people were getting in the way of ranchers and miners using public lands.
They got their grand jury, which immediately had District Attorney Gary Woodbury attempting to drag a U.S. Forest Service employee before it. District Judge Thomas Stringfield saw the danger in this foolish escapade and refused to grant the subpoena for the federal official. The U.S. attorney for Nevada could hardly wait for the arrival of the threatened subpoena.
The High Desert Advocate newspaper, published in Wendover on the eastern edge of the county, noted:
"The judge's ruling follows constitutional guidelines, and we heartily agree. We also expect some protests over his ruling as we expect our point of view may not be popular with those newest spokesmen for states' rights, etc.
"On the other hand, the whole tempest reminds us of other inconsistencies in the behavior of so many of our fiercely independent Westerners.
"It is OK with them when Uncle Sam extends his largess when it comes to disaster management or special favors like the mining law of 1872, or those low-cost cattle range charges. And, of course, if it wasn't for the National Endowment for the Arts' seed money, Cowboy Poetry might never have gotten off the ground.
"But at the slightest hint the feds might like to know how those dollars are spent or how well the counties live up to their responsibilities in spending those federal dollars, our tough-talking, independent-minded westerners start their whining.
"We suppose, though, that you cannot blame people for wanting to have it both ways. We just wish they'd admit it one time."
The most recent farce promoted by the Elko County grand jury was the "presentment" which declared that some state officials and Forest Service people had committed crimes when insisting that a mining operation pay $500,000 to begin mining on 5,500 acres of public land that contains prime winter habitat for mule deer. The money is being used to rehabilitate nearby land scarred by range fires.
Why was it a "presentment" and not an indictment, if truly the agreement for payment had been extracted unlawfully from the mining company by the public officers "under color of official authority"? The jurors backed off of that limb when declaring: "The grand jury has found indictable criminal activity in this investigation and would recommend prosecution but for the fact that the statute of limitations on gross misdemeanors has passed."
So what can the people of Nevada expect if the Elko grand jury, which has two of the mining company's employees as members, gets in a position where they can't back out of their declared nonsense?
I'd say the sooner this happens the better. It's time for both the state and federal governments to put an end to this foolishness being tolerated and encouraged by the Elko County power structure. As boxing referee Mills Lane would say, "Let's get it on!" Yes, and let's get it over, so the thousands of good people of Elko County no longer have to blush when asked about their district attorney and the grand jury seeking out conspiracies between conservation groups and public resource managers.
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