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A one and a half-mile dirt road in Elko, Nevada, has become the new symbol for America's anti-government movement. Elko County claims it owns the road. The United States Forest Service says the road is part of the Jarbidge wilderness area, giving the forest service jurisdiction. The controversy is so heated it has led to the resignation of a forest supervisor and the convening of a congressional hearing, in addition to dramatic street theater by anti-government and militia groups.

The debate over the road has quite a history. The South Canyon Road near Jarbidge was washed out by a flood in 1995. The forest service decided rebuilding the road was unnecessary and would put the bullhead trout, an endangered species in Jarbidge River, at risk. The Elko County Commission had other plans. In 1998, it voted to reconstruct the road and began work. The federal government intervened and forced the county to halt the project. The forest service then came in and removed sections of the now-altered road that were threatening to dump sediment into the river. The justice department sued Elko County for $40,000, seeking the costs associated with removing the county's road construction. That's when the current controversy began.

Nevada Assemblyman John Carpenter informed the Elko commission that he and two other people, Grant Gerber and O.Q. Johnson, were organizing a work party for October 8-10, 1999. The party would use shovels, wheelbarrows and horse-drawn equipment to rebuild the road. At the last minute, a district judge granted the forest service an injunction forbidding any action by the work party. Seizing on Carpenter's defiance of the federal government, anti-government groups across the country, including the Militia of Montana, began supporting the "Jarbidge Rebellion."

The militia perspective on the Jarbidge Rebellion was more than local versus federal control. It interjected a conspiratorial view. One note sent over the Militia of Montana's e-mail list stated, "The Feds, in collaboration with global elitists (the New World Order), are pushing for total control from Washington D.C., imposing their ever-increasing bureaucratic legislations (under the guise of Îenvironmental protection.')" Vin Suprynowicz, writing for The Libertarian, echoed this statement, saying, "It's now obvious to all that federal Îland managers' are involved in an organized campaign to systematically sweep the rural West of humans."

The level of hostility toward the federal government and its employees continued to rise. Out of concern for the safety of her employees, Gloria Flora, supervisor of the Humboldt-Toiyabe Forest, resigned her post last November to call attention to the extreme anti-government atmosphere they faced. Her resignation stated, "Fed bashing is a sport here and I refuse to sit by quietly and let it happen as many others do." She said federal employees were being harassed and intimidated to the point that they are refused service in restaurants and kicked out of motels because they work for the government. She hoped the media spotlight created by her resignation would help get something done. "They [anti-government activists] have many slogans, like ÎRemember Waco,'" she said during a speech in Helena. "The last time a person said that, 168 people died in Oklahoma City." Flora wanted to speak out before a similar act occurred.

Congressional Hearing or Conflict of Interest

On the heels of Flora's resignation, Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage (R÷ID), chair of the House and Resource Subcommittee on Forests convened a hearing on November 13, 1999, to examine the jurisdictional issues surrounding South Canyon Road.

Helen Chenoweth-Hage has been a controversial figure since taking office in 1996 because of her close connections to anti-government activists. She's brought the militia movement's issues to the floors of Congress, including its paranoia of black helicopters. This alone would make her a poor choice to look into a controversy between the federal government and anti-government activists. On top of that, Chenoweth-Hage is now married to wise-use icon Wayne Hage. The conflict of interest is evident.

Wayne Hage is a rancher in Nye County, Nevada. He first gained attention during the Sagebrush Rebellion which favored turning all federal lands over to the state. He helped form the National Federal Lands Conference (NFLC) that created the wise use movement. He and the group have many connections to Montana. In 1993, the NFLC held a meeting in Jordan, Montana, featuring tax protestor and anti-Semite Red Beckman. In 1996, Hage was a featured speaker at the right-wing Freedom Rendezvous held in Missoula. Other speakers included militia activist Jack McLamb and Larry Pratt, director of Gun Owners of America. Currently, Hage is continuing an eight-year lawsuit in which he is suing the forest service for $26 million over grazing rights.

Chenoweth-Hage's hearing included testimony by Assemblyman Carpenter who compared the Jarbidge Rebellion to the American Revolution. He said, "If the Feds do not change their ways and begin to listen to the local people, there is going to be a lot more tea thrown overboard." Commissioner Tony Lesperance added, "We will rebuild that road, come hell or high water."

With Flora gone, Intermountain Forester Jack Blackwell appeared before Chenoweth-Hage but refused to answer her questions. He said a justice department attorney had recommended he not comment on the Jarbidge situation because of pending legal action related to the injunction filed against the work party. Upon completing the hearing, Chenoweth-Hage said she believed the road is owned by the county.

The Rebellion Continues

Chenoweth-Hage said she plans to hold another hearing into the Jarbidge Rebellion later this year in Washington D.C. Meanwhile, the forest service and Elko County continue trying to resolve the issue through mediation. Assemblyman Carpenter is planing another work party for July 4^th. He plans to use shovels delivered by Jim Hurst, owner of a timber mill in Eureka, Montana. Hurst delivered his shovels to Elko on January 29, and they were used in the "Shovel Brigade Parade" that attracted 3,500 people. Jarbidge River's South Canyon Road is now just a symbol of the larger battle between wise use activists and the federal government. "We've [the forest service] tried over the years to give several roads to the county, but they didn't want them. They couldn't make political hay with those roads," Flora said. "The issue here is serious anger toward the federal government."