Chairman Chenoweth-Hage submits this final report to members based on the testimony given and records available to the Subcommittee. Representatives of the USFS failed to defend their position from a legal standpoint, submitting no legal analysis that justified their position. The investment of time in the historic perspective leading up to the County's assertion was fruitful, yielding numerous clearly worded acts of Congress, backed up in a plethora of case law. Congress and the courts have intended. I therefore submit my final report on the hearing on the Jarbidge Road.
Ownership is defined as control of property rights.
Jurisdiction is defined as the right to exercise civil and criminal process. Evidence was presented by Elko County in an effort to establish proof of ownership of the Jarbidge South Canyon Road. This evidence includes documents and oral testimony, showing that the road was established in the late 1800s on what had been a pre-existing Indian trail used by the native Shoshone for an unknown period of time prior to any white settlement in the area. Elko County claims jurisdiction over the Jarbidge South Canyon Road by virtue of evidence that the road was created to serve the private property interests of the settlers in the area. Elko County cites various private right claims to water, minerals, and grazing which the road was constructed to serve.