| Armed and dangerous: Forest
Service calls Elko ads inflammatory
(Note: The two quote immediately below, and prefacing this 'story,' are very important. Consider them whenever reading AP, Reuters and other 'major muzzled media' stories.) "In March 1915, the J.P. Morgan interests -- the steel, shipbuilding, and powder interest, and their subsidiary organizations -- got together 12 men high up in the newspaper world and employed them to select the most influential newspapers in the United States and sufficient number of them to control generally the policy of the daily press ...They found it was only necessary to purchase the control of 25 of the greatest papers. An agreement was reached; the policy of the papers was bought, to be paid for by the month; an editor was furnished for each paper to properly supervise and edit information regarding the questions of preparedness, militarism, financial policies, and other things of national and international nature considered vital to the interests of the purchasers." - U.S. Congressman Oscar Callaway, 1917 ===== John Swinton, the former chief of staff of THE NEW YORK TIMES, called by his peers, "The Dean of his profession," was asked in 1953 to give a toast before the New York Press Club. He rose and gave this toast: "There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone. The business of the Journalist is to destroy truth; To lie outright; To pervert; To vilify; To fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it and what folly is this toasting an independent press? We are the tools and vassals for rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes." October 23, 2003 By Scott Sonner, Associated Press Writer Reno, Nevada [390 miles from Jarbidge, which is in ultra-rural NE Nevada] - Forest Service officials are pressing Nevada's Shovel Brigade to retract radio ads they say are inflammatory and promote "ill will" toward agency officials by describing them as "armed and dangerous." But leaders of the citizen activist group challenging federal jurisdiction over a rugged canyon road bordering threatened trout habitat are refusing, saying the ads are truthful. They accuse the Forest Service of trying to intimidate those who want to drive the remote stretch of road that local volunteers have gradually reopened in Elko County since the Jarbidge River flooded and washed it out in 1995. The ad aired on Elko radio stations over the weekend after the Forest Service cited John Eickhof September 26 for allegedly damaging forest resources through off-road driving. Eickhof, Wendell, Idaho, is the head of an Idaho truck club that's been active in rebuilding the South Canyon Road in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest near the Idaho line over the agency's objections. One version of the ad said: "The Forest Service has a new policy of issuing citations for the following offense: Operating any vehicle off road in a manner which damages or unreasonably disturbs the land, wildlife or vegetative resources. "If apprehended by Forest Service personnel, consider them armed and dangerous and cooperate to the fullest. Then contact the Jarbidge Shovel Brigade for assistance." Similar ads began running Thursday in the Elko Daily Free Press. Dan Dallas, Forest Service district ranger in Mountain City, said he telephoned Shovel Brigade leaders to request "erroneous information be corrected or eliminated" from the ads, but said they refused. Grant Gerber, an Elko lawyer who has represented the Shovel Brigade in past legal actions, confirmed he talked to Dallas about the ad and told him he considered it truthful. He referred additional questions to another Shovel Brigade activist who helped finance the ad, Mike Lattin of Elko. Lattin did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment. Bill Van Bruggen, Forest Service district ranger for Jarbidge and the Ruby Mountains, said in a letter to Lattin on Wednesday that the ad characterizing Forest Service employees as "armed and dangerous" was "inflammatory." "Describing our personnel in a public forum as criminals is simply unacceptable and tantamount to slander," he said. "It is this kind of public rhetoric that can promote ill will toward our employees and tears down any efforts we continually work on to establish positive community relationships." The Forest Service said in a statement from its Elko office on Wednesday that only commissioned law enforcement personnel are armed and that they make up a small percentage of Forest Service officials. "Forest Service personnel are no more dangerous than Shovel Brigade members or any other persons visiting or using national forest system lands," the statement said. Gerber said he likely will help defend Eickhof against the misdemeanor charge of operating a vehicle off road in a manner which damages the resource. The crime is punishable by a maximum of up to six months in jail or a $5,000 fine or both, Forest Service officials said. "It is pure intimidation," Gerber told The Associated Press. "It is an act of intimidation by the Forest Service to keep people from using the road," he said Thursday. "The road has been open for three years and the Forest Service now admits it is open. So if the road is open, how can they cite him? Apparently they concluded he ran over a bush on the side of the road," Gerber said. Van Bruggen confirmed last week the Forest service no longer considers the road to be closed. "The road technically is 'open in disrepair,"' he said. The agency statement released in Elko Wednesday said the citation was issued because the damage was "excessive or severe -- not a bent twig or a crushed bush." Forest Service spokeswoman Christie Kalkowski said an agency special agent told her stream banks were damaged. The group has been at odds with the agency for years over jurisdiction of the road. The dispute heated up again last week when the Forest Service spent $15,000 on a helicopter to help haul sewage from an outhouse at the end of the road, saying the volunteers' proposal to haul it out in a horse-drawn wagon posed health and environmental risks. Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2003/oct/23/102310235.html ===== Another version: Forest Service officials want Nevada's Shovel Brigade to pull the ads that are being run on the radio in Elko. They call them inflammatory by branding rangers as being "armed and dangerous." But leaders of the citizen activist group challenging federal jurisdiction over a rugged canyon road bordering threatened trout habitat say the ads are truthful. They accuse the Forest Service of trying to intimidate those who want to drive the stretch of road local volunteers have gradually reopened over the agency's objections since the Jarbidge River flooded and washed it out in 1995. The Forest Service ranger in Mountain City telephoned Shovel Brigade leaders to ask that erroneous information be corrected or eliminated from the ads. Elko Lawyer Grant Gerber, who has represented the Shovel Brigade in past legal actions, confirms he talked to the agency about the ad. And he told the ranger he considers it truthful. Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. http://www.krnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1494209&nav=8faOIh5u ===== And yet ANOTHER version! Forest Service officials are pressing Nevada's Shovel Brigade to retract radio ads they say are inflammatory and promote ill will toward agency officials by describing them as armed and dangerous. But leaders of the citizen activist group challenging federal jurisdiction over a rugged canyon road bordering threatened trout habitat say the ads are truthful. They accuse the Forest Service of trying to intimidate those who want to drive the stretch of road local volunteers have gradually reopened -- over the agency's objections -- since the Jarbidge River flooded and washed it out in 1995. The ad aired on Elko radio stations over the weekend after the Forest Service cited the head of an Idaho truck club that's been active in rebuilding the South Canyon Road in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest near the Idaho line. One version of the ad said: "The Forest Service has a new policy of issuing citations for the following offense: Operating any vehicle off road in a manner which damages or unreasonably disturbs the land, wildlife or vegetative resources. "If apprehended by Forest Service personnel, consider them armed and dangerous and cooperate to the fullest. Then contact the Jarbidge Shovel Brigade for assistance. 738-1778." Dan Dallas, Forest Service district ranger in Mountain City, said he telephoned Shovel Brigade leaders to request "erroneous information be corrected or eliminated" from the ads, but said they refused. Grant Gerber, an Elko lawyer who has represented the Shovel Brigade in past legal actions, confirmed he talked to Dallas about the ad and told him he considered it truthful. He referred additional questions to another Shovel Brigade activist who helped finance the ad, Mike Lattin of Elko. Lattin did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Bill Van Bruggen, Forest Service district ranger for Jarbidge and the Ruby Mountains, said in a letter to Lattin on Wednesday that the ad characterizing Forest Service employees as "armed and dangerous" was "inflammatory." "Describing our personnel in a public forum as criminals is simply unacceptable and tantamount to slander," he said. "It is this kind of public rhetoric that can promote ill will toward our employees and tears down any efforts we continually work on to establish positive community relationships." The Forest Service said in a statement from its Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Elko that only commissioned law enforcement personnel are armed and that they make up a small percentage of Forest Service officials. "Forest Service personnel are no more dangerous than Shovel Brigade members or any other persons visiting or using national forest system lands," the statement said. Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2003/oct/23/102310202.html ===== One last quote, to underpin the control that is exerted over the 'major media:' "We are grateful to The Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto determination practiced in past centuries." - David Rockefeller, founder of the Trilateral Commission, in an address before that organization in June of 1991 ===== From Reno to Jarbidge, Nevada Start out going North on N CENTER ST toward E 4TH ST/I-80 BL. 0.33 miles 2: Merge onto I-80 E. 287.31 miles 3: Take the NV-225 exit- exit number 301- toward ELKO/DOWNTOWN. 0.35 miles 4: Turn LEFT onto MOUNTAIN CITY HWY/NV-225. 51.27 miles 5: Turn RIGHT onto NV-225/MOUNTAIN CITY HWY. 2.49 miles 6: Turn RIGHT onto CR-746 (Portions unpaved). 20.84 miles 7: Turn SLIGHT LEFT onto CR-748 (Portions unpaved). 6.20 miles 8: Turn RIGHT onto NF 062/JARBIDGE CHARLESTON COUNTY RD. Continue to follow NF 062 (Portions unpaved). 21.65 miles TOTAL ESTIMATED TIME: 7 hours, 53 minutes TOTAL DISTANCE: 390.44 miles From Las Vegas to Jarbidge, Nevada: TOTAL ESTIMATED TIME: 12 hours, 27 minutes TOTAL DISTANCE: 537.11 miles ===== My Editorial on the subject: Locked Out of the Out House - "It's clean and it's gonna STAY clean!" October 24, 2003 By Julie Kay Smithson 318 words Cow Patty couldn't have unrolled a better campfire story. A dirty outhouse, 'administered by' the Forest Service at the trailhead to the Jarbidge Wilderness, in ultra-rural northeast Nevada, ran amok of the usual regularity with which the FS dispenses BS ... er, PR. I am not 'privy' to the most private deals, but it is a fact that the folks comprising the famed Jarbidge Shovel Brigade of Elko, NV, made the FS an offer: to clean that dastardly outhouse -- for FREE! Few would have turned down such an offer, but the Forest Service was not 'moved.' The Shovel Brigade -- able to move large boulders in a single day and open roads with typical cowboy moxie -- was unable to get the constipated feds to flow freely into the cooperative arena. A private contractor was hired and surreptitiously arrived on the smelly scene, cleaning apparatus at the ready. When the dirty deed was done, he departed for Idaho, check in hand, a happy man. No toilet paper needed The Jarbidge Outhouse is now clean and sweet smelling. There's no need to spend another $15,000 bucks having an out-of-state contractor engage in a covert operation: the cleaning of the Jarbidge Outhouse. With the only outhouse padlocked, the Forest Service has cagily cut back on its 'procurement costs.' The purpose of the Jarbidge Outhouse is no more. Like the Roebucks catalogs that may once have graced it's innards -- and the sack of lime with the old coffee cup, for 'keepin' the flies down' -- it's gone the way of the dinosaurs. The Forest Service has achieved 'conflict resolution' by this action, and its employees are understandably proud. While no one has actually heard them break into spontaneous song, it might go something like this: And we heard them exclaim, as they scowled so mean, "It's clean, oh so clean, and it's gonna STAY clean!" |