Crow Killer
December 3rd, 2001, 03:31 AM
http://www.elkodaily.com/display/inn_news/news4.txt
>
> BLM's intent in spy camera case disputed
> By JEFFRY MULLINS, Associate Editor
> ELKO -- The use of hidden cameras by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management at
> Black Rock Desert sets an "unacceptable precedent" for spying by a federal
> agency, according to U.S. Rep Jim Gibbons, R-Nev.
> In an interview this week, Gibbons accused the BLM of "subterfuge" and
said
> he didn't believe the cameras were being used for their stated purpose.
> The Elko Daily Free Press received a letter Nov. 8 from Bob Schweigert of
> Winnemucca along with photos of a camouflaged camera Schweigert said he
> found hidden under a sagebrush. It had been placed along a road that was
> fenced off when the area was designated wilderness under legislation
> sponsored by former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.
> Schweigert said he believed the agency was trying to catch people using
the
> road, but BLM Winnemucca Field Office Manager Terry Reed claimed the
cameras
> were part of an investigation into stolen signposts marking the wilderness
> boundaries.
> The signs are merely 4-inch wide metal strips worth about $25, Gibbons
said.
> They were placed in a fence that blocked off a road into the wilderness
> area.
> "Now as I know, wilderness areas don't have roads in them, but this is a
> road," Gibbons said. What the BLM was really trying to do was catch people
> using the road, he said.
> "It was subterfuge, in my guess. They really weren't after the guys who
> stole the sign, they wanted to catch the person who cut the fence and went
> through."
> "I think it's an unacceptable precedent for a land management agency to
> start using cameras" in that manner, Gibbons said.
> Hidden cameras are often used in places where people are notified of their
> existence, such as at shopping centers or high-risk security areas, he
said.
> Military installations use them to protect their boundaries, but they
aren't
> hidden. "I think it's very obvious that they've got cameras out there,
> because you can see them," he said.
> Not so with the BLM cameras.
> "This was one where it was done intentionally to avoid giving notice to
the
> public that a camera was there,' Gibbons said. "So this is something that
is
> completely new, and totally unacceptable.
> BLM state Director Bob Abbey promised Nov. 9 to do an internal review of
the
> incident, but Gibbons said he hasn't heard back from him.
>
> BLM's intent in spy camera case disputed
> By JEFFRY MULLINS, Associate Editor
> ELKO -- The use of hidden cameras by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management at
> Black Rock Desert sets an "unacceptable precedent" for spying by a federal
> agency, according to U.S. Rep Jim Gibbons, R-Nev.
> In an interview this week, Gibbons accused the BLM of "subterfuge" and
said
> he didn't believe the cameras were being used for their stated purpose.
> The Elko Daily Free Press received a letter Nov. 8 from Bob Schweigert of
> Winnemucca along with photos of a camouflaged camera Schweigert said he
> found hidden under a sagebrush. It had been placed along a road that was
> fenced off when the area was designated wilderness under legislation
> sponsored by former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.
> Schweigert said he believed the agency was trying to catch people using
the
> road, but BLM Winnemucca Field Office Manager Terry Reed claimed the
cameras
> were part of an investigation into stolen signposts marking the wilderness
> boundaries.
> The signs are merely 4-inch wide metal strips worth about $25, Gibbons
said.
> They were placed in a fence that blocked off a road into the wilderness
> area.
> "Now as I know, wilderness areas don't have roads in them, but this is a
> road," Gibbons said. What the BLM was really trying to do was catch people
> using the road, he said.
> "It was subterfuge, in my guess. They really weren't after the guys who
> stole the sign, they wanted to catch the person who cut the fence and went
> through."
> "I think it's an unacceptable precedent for a land management agency to
> start using cameras" in that manner, Gibbons said.
> Hidden cameras are often used in places where people are notified of their
> existence, such as at shopping centers or high-risk security areas, he
said.
> Military installations use them to protect their boundaries, but they
aren't
> hidden. "I think it's very obvious that they've got cameras out there,
> because you can see them," he said.
> Not so with the BLM cameras.
> "This was one where it was done intentionally to avoid giving notice to
the
> public that a camera was there,' Gibbons said. "So this is something that
is
> completely new, and totally unacceptable.
> BLM state Director Bob Abbey promised Nov. 9 to do an internal review of
the
> incident, but Gibbons said he hasn't heard back from him.