101 RANCH v. US

• Decision Date: 22 April 1988
• Docket Number: No. A2-81-89.,A2-81-89.
• Parties: 101 RANCH, a North Dakota Partnership, consisting of Steve Ward, Imogene Christensen and Claire Engelhardt; Carlyle Brye; Arnold Yri and Vernyll Yri; Ruby Martinson; Miles Maddock and Dorothea Maddock; Olaf Solheim and Mabel Solheim; Minnie Johnston; and Francis P. Schneider and Gloria Schneider; Gail Anderson; Gerald Tofsrud; Mabel Martinson; Helen Martinson; Hulda Martinson; and Lutheran Bible Institute of Seattle, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant, and State of North Dakota and Board of Directors, Garrison Conservancy District, Intervenors.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of South Dakota

714 F. Supp. 1005

101 RANCH, a North Dakota Partnership, consisting of Steve Ward, Imogene Christensen and Claire Engelhardt; Carlyle Brye; Arnold Yri and Vernyll Yri; Ruby Martinson; Miles Maddock and Dorothea Maddock; Olaf Solheim and Mabel Solheim; Minnie Johnston; and Francis P. Schneider and Gloria Schneider; Gail Anderson; Gerald Tofsrud; Mabel Martinson; Helen Martinson; Hulda Martinson; and Lutheran Bible Institute of Seattle, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant and State of North Dakota and Board of Directors, Garrison Conservancy District, Intervenors.

No. A2-81-89.

United States District Court, D. North Dakota, Northeastern Division.

October 28, 1988.

Report of Special Master April 22, 1988.

Frank T. Knox, Lanier, Knox & Olson, Fargo, N.D., for plaintiffs.

Bradley Jackson, Andrew Walch, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Land & Natural Resources Div., Washington, D.C., (Margot Zallen, Office of Reg. Solicitor, Dept. of Interior, Denver, Colo., Gary Annear, U.S. Atty., Fargo, N.D., of counsel), for defendant.

Murray G. Sagsveen, Zuger & Bucklin, Bismarck, N.D., for intervenors.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

BENSON, Senior District Judge.

This case was referred to a special master pursuant to Rule 53 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Honorable Karen K. Klein, United States Magistrate for the District of North Dakota, was designated to serve as master pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(2). The special master conducted an evidentiary hearing on February 2-5, 1987. Thereafter the matter was briefed and on April 22, 1988, the special master's report was filed with the court. See F.R.Civ.P. 53(e)(1). Objections to the report have been filed by the parties. The United States moved that the report be adopted in part and vacated in part.

On June 27, 1988, at a hearing before the court, the parties and intervenors were given an opportunity to be heard. The court accepts the Master's findings of fact and the report in whole, except as hereinafter modified:

MODIFICATIONS

1. The third full sentence on page two is modified to read: "The plaintiffs claim ownership of the lands by virtue of various quiet title judgments entered while the West Bay was dry or by virtue of tax payments, adverse possession, and/or quitclaim deed from the State of North Dakota."

2. The fourth full sentence on page five of the report is modified to read: "On July 7, 1971, the GDCD conveyed its interest in the greater part of the land below the meander line of Devils Lake to the United States by quitclaim deed."

3. On page one, the number "2904a" is corrected to read "2409a;"

On page two, the word "quite" is corrected to read "quiet;"

On page four, the word "Untied" is corrected to read "United."

4. Those parts of pages nineteen and twenty of the report relating to the discussion and determination of the ordinary low water mark are deleted. The parties are in agreement that a determination of the location of the ordinary low water mark is not an issue in this case.

PLAINTIFFS' OBJECTIONS TO THE MASTER'S REPORT

Plaintiffs assert that the report fails to address the legal issues relating to their claims as set out in pages seven and eight of the report. The disposition of plaintiffs' claims is implicit in the findings and recommendations of the Master.

The Master found the plaintiffs' lands are riparian in nature. It is clear from the arguments of plaintiffs' counsel at the hearing on the report that plaintiffs do not contest this finding. They do, however, disagree with the legal effect of the finding. They accept the benefits of the reliction but contend, in effect, that their quiet title actions insulate them from the burdens of submergence.¹

The court gives full faith and credit to the quiet title judgments. 28 U.S.C. § 1738. The quiet title judgments do not, however, alter the fundamental riparian nature of the lands. The judgments affirm plaintiffs' title to the relicted lands as of the time they were entered. The State apparently had no reason to appear in the actions because it had lost its possessory interest in the land through reliction. Neither the quiet title action nor the December 7, 1949 quitclaim deed relieved the plaintiffs from the burden of submergence. That which the State, as lake bed owner, may have lost by reliction has been recovered by the present lake bed owner through submergence up to the present ordinary high water mark, which is approximately 1,427 feet. The plaintiffs' lands gained through reliction and subsequently lost through submergence up to the ordinary high water mark were described in the State's July 7, 1971 quitclaim deed to the United States. Plaintiffs argue that if the lands covered by the State's quitclaim deed to the United States in 1971 were not submerged at that time the United States acquired nothing by the deed. That argument is without merit.

The 1971 quitclaim deed from the State to the United States described lands "lying below the meander line." The court has previously determined that at time of statehood the meander line was the ordinary high water mark. It has also been determined that Devils Lake was a navigable lake at the time of statehood and pursuant to the equal footing doctrine, the state acquired title to the bed of the lake. The adjacent landowners acquired ownership of their land by government patent. The land at all times retained its riparian nature. As the water level receded the adjacent landowners acquired title to that part of the lake bed uncovered by the receding water, subject to the State's latent submergence interest. When the level of the water advanced, the plaintiffs' title to the land which they had acquired under the doctrine of reliction was divested by submergence and reacquired by the lake bed owner.² The 1971 quitclaim deed conveyed to the United States the lake bed nearest West Bay.

The court has accepted the Special Master's finding that the largest portion of West Bay is higher than 1,423 feet. The court further finds that the maximum elevation of the water in Devils Lake in 1971 was 1,421.1 feet. See North Dakota Exhibit 408, Volume 3 at 46. Thus, West Bay was dry in 1971 and presumably subject to cultivation. The ordinary high water mark is now found to be approximately 1,427 feet. The net effect of the deed is that it conveyed the entire lake bed, as it existed in 1971, to the United States.

On the adoption of the Master's Report, as modified, the court finds that the nature of the rights or interests conferred by section 47-01-15, North Dakota Century Code, need not be determined in this case. The court holds that the location of the ordinary low water mark also need not be determined. The court further holds that plaintiffs' title to the land in question, except for such rights as the State may have conferred on the plaintiffs pursuant to section 47-01-15, North Dakota Century Code, does not extend below the ordinary high water mark.

ORDER

IT IS ORDERED that plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment filed January 12, 1987, is denied.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that judgment be entered decreeing that:

1. The doctrine of reliction and submergence applies to West Bay of Devils Lake;

2. The ordinary high water mark of Devils Lake is ambulatory;

3. The present ordinary high water mark is 1,427 feet;

4. Title to the patented and relicted lands adjacent to and above the present ordinary high water mark bounding the lands described in that certain quitclaim deed dated July 7, 1971, wherein the Garrison Conservancy District, an agency of the State of North Dakota, appears as grantor and the United States of America as grantee, is presently held by the adjacent landowners as their interests may appear;

5. The July 7, 1971 quitclaim deed conveyed the Garrison Conservancy District's interest in the lake bed land below the ordinary high water mark, as it existed in 1971, to the United States;

6. Title to the lands below the ordinary high water mark bounding the lands described in the said quitclaim deed is held by the United States of America subject to the rights conferred upon the adjacent landowners by section 47-01-15 of the North Dakota Century Code;

7. The July 7, 1971 deed described herein, and the resolution accompanying the deed were recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds in Benson, Nelson and Ramsey Counties, North Dakota, as follows:

Benson County

Resolution: Book 20 of Misc. at page 138

Deed: Book 62 of Deeds at page 377

Nelson County

Resolution: Book 207 of Misc. at page 398

Deed: Book 208 of Deeds at page 98

Ramsey County

Resolution: Book 19 of Misc. at page 545

Deed: Book 76 of Deeds at page 535

Costs shall not be awarded to the parties or the intervenors.

REPORT OF SPECIAL MASTER

KAREN K. KLEIN, United States Magistrate.

This is a quiet title action brought by the plaintiffs against the United States, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2409a. Exclusive original jurisdiction of the case rests with this court. 28 U.S.C. § 1346(f). The case was referred to the magistrate, who was appointed to serve as a special master pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(2), Rule 53 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and Rule 28(c)(6) of the Local Rules of the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota. The reference order directed the magistrate to conduct an evidentiary hearing and to make findings of fact and conclusions of law. 101 Ranch v. United States, Civil No. A2-81-89 (D.N.D. Sept. 30, 1985). An evidentiary hearing was begun on February 2, 1987, and concluded on February 5, 1987. Preparation of the transcript and two rounds of briefing have now been completed. This report contains the magistrate's findings of fact and conclusions of law. See F.R.Civ.P. 53(e).

INTRODUCTION

This case involves a dispute over the ownership of lands below the meander line of West Bay of Devils Lake. The plaintiffs claim ownership of the lands by virtue of various quiet title judgments entered while the West Bay was dry or by...