Elko
Grand Jury Ponders Federal Activities Elko
Grand Jury Ponders Federal Activities copyright (c) 1996, Electric Nevada
| A large spring important to ranchers in Ruby
Valley, southeast of Elko, was deliberately destroyed
with heavy equipment at the same time as the U.S. Forest
Service had a track-mounted bulldozer in the area, says a
report issued by the Elko County grand jury. |
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| Because
the federal agency is refusing to allow its employees to
testify before the grand jury or respond to subpoenas,
said the panel, the investigation will not resume, or
proceed toward an indictment, until a court compels the
agency to cooperate. Since February the grand jury has been looking
into activities of U.S. Forest Service employees in Elko
County. This report, announced as the first of several,
focused primarily on the filling-in of Woolverton Spring,
in North Ruby Valley. Not only is the federal agency's account of
what happened at the spring not credible, said the panel,
but there is a suspicious gap in the relevant Forest
Service records. "Documentation and testimony reveals that
the U. S. Forest Service had a track-mounted dozer and
operator in the Woolverton Spring area in the spring of
1989 specifically working on water development projects. "Records normally kept for the equipment
which identify what project the equipment was working on
and for how long, show that the dozer was used for a
number of hours which are not accounted for in the
records. "Due to legal objections and a lack of
cooperation from the U.S.F.S., the Grand Jury
|
was unable to obtain additional accurate
and detailed documentation for project work in North Ruby
Valley during the time in question." § § § |
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