Judge tosses Forest Service fine of off-roader

A federal judge on Friday threw out a $150 fine the Forest Service levied against the leader of an off-road vehicle club in a dispute over protection of the threatened bull trout in northeast Nevada.

In a rare hearing of a petty offense in federal court, U.S. Magistrate Robert McQuaid Jr. said prosecutors failed to prove John Eickhof caused damage to the banks of a Jarbidge River channel.

"There is an admission that Mr. Eickhof was there and that he drove off the road. He doesn't say he caused the damage," McQuaid said. "I think there has to be more to tie this defendant to the damage."

Critics of federal protection of the fish in the Jarbidge River hailed the dismissal of the Eickhof citation as a major victory in an ongoing feud with U.S. land managers over access to the South Canyon Road along the river in Elko County near the Idaho line.

But Forest Service Supervisor Bob Vaught insisted the area near the river where Eickhof admitted driving off the road remains off limits and that additional citations will be issued to any off-roaders who damage fish habitat or other forest resources....