Elko road settlement headed back to federal court

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to wade into a decade-old dispute between Elko County and the federal government over protection of a threatened fish and public access to a remote road on national forest land. The high court's refusal to hear the rural county's appeal of a federal appeals court ruling was cheered by environmentalists, who said it reaffirms their right to intervene in the case on behalf of the bull trout. It means the legal battle over South Canyon Road in northeast Nevada is headed back to U.S. District Court in Reno, where a judge earlier had ruled the conservationists have no legal standing to participate in the case that pits private property interests against environmental protection. After years of legal wrangling, the Forest Service agreed to give Elko County right of way to the road. In return, the county agreed not to perform any road work without prior Forest Service approval. The environmental groups sued, arguing the federal government lacked authority to cede the right of way without environmental studies and a public process. Last June, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed. Elko County then appealed to the Supreme Court...AP