Elko Commission seeks hearing in bull trout dispute

Commissioners Nolan Lloyd and Mike Nannini said they had learned of a Nevada Division of Wildlife study that discounts the danger to the bull trout.

"What they've told us is not the truth," Nannini said, claiming the evidence provided by the state studies should quell attempts to designate the bull trout as an endangered species.

The bull trout controversy is a key factor in Elko County's dispute with the U.S. Forest Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service over the county's desire to rebuild South Canyon Road in Jarbidge.

With an April 8 deadline looming for Fish and Wildlife to decide if the bull trout will be added to the endangered list, commissioners sent a new round of letters Thursday calling for a formal congressional hearing in hopes of diffusing the dispute.

"We don't have much time," Nannini told the Elko Daily Free Press. "We feel now that we have the evidence to back up our position. NDOW has done the study."

Lloyd said he received a copy of an Oct. 5 letter from NDOW to the Fish and Wildlife Service stating that even though the bull trout is present in the Jarbidge River, the fish is unsuited to the river's natural water temperature.

The report also indicates nothing abnormal about the fish populations in the area, and Lloyd said he believes the study shows the bull trout is not endangered.

Gene Marchetti, spokesman for Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., encouraged the commissioners to increase the pressure for a hearing that involves Nevada's representatives in Congress.

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