The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service raised the stakes
in a conflict between environmentalists and Elko County, Nev., in
June, when it proposed critical habitat for the endangered bull
trout along the Jarbidge River. The agency proposed designating 131
miles of streams in Idaho and Nevada as critical habitat —
which sets aside land essential to the survival of an endangered
species, and may bring special management restrictions —
after being sued by the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Friends
of Wild Swan.
Within the habitat sits South Canyon Road,
a mile-and-a-half long dirt road that washed out in 1995, and now
lies at the center of a running feud over county rights. The Forest
Service halted its plans to rebuild the road in 1998 after Trout
Unlimited raised concerns that sediment from another washout could
threaten bull trout. The construction delay prompted numerous
attempts by shovel-wielding county-rights activists to rebuild the
road.
Now, the Fish and Wildlife Service must weigh the
options in a forthcoming environmental impact statement on
rebuilding the road, before the Forest Service formally releases it
this fall.
“I don’t think (critical habitat
designation) is going to make a significant difference with respect
to road options,” says Bob Williams, the Fish and Wildlife
Service’s state supervisor in Nevada. “The listing of the
critical habitat in and of itself does not stop anything.”
Michael Garrity, executive director of Alliance for the
Wild Rockies, disagrees, pointing out that development projects in
critical habitat face a higher level of scrutiny before they can
proceed. Under the Endangered Species Act alone, “they just have to
show the species won’t go extinct,” Garrity says. “With
critical habitat, they have to show it won’t hurt the
habitat.”
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Trout wriggles into a sagebrush rebellion.
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