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RENO, Nev. (AP) — Elko County's lawyers head back to federal court in Reno Monday with century-old newspaper clippings and mining claim maps from the 1890s that they say prove they're in charge of a road on a national forest near the Idaho border.
The county, U.S. government and environmentalists have been arguing for two decades over the road and protection of a threatened fish in the river next to it.
The government first sued the county and leaders of a group called the "Shovel Brigade" in 1999, accusing them of violating the Endangered Species Act with the unauthorized reconstruction of the washed out road along the Jarbidge River.
The county said it has a legal right of way because the road was built before President Teddy Roosevelt designated the area a national forest.
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