Andrus v. Idaho

• Decision Date: 16 April 1980
• Docket Number: No. 79-260,79-260
• Citation: 445 U.S. 715,63 L.Ed.2d 739,100 S.Ct. 1450
• Parties: Cecil D. ANDRUS, Secretary of Interior, Petitioner, v. State of IDAHO et al
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

445 U.S. 715

100 S.Ct. 1450

63 L.Ed.2d 739

Cecil D. ANDRUS, Secretary of Interior, Petitioner,

v State of IDAHO et al.

No. 79-260.

Argued Feb. 25, 1980.

Decided April 16, 1980.

Syllabus

The Carey Act of 1894, in order to aid covered States in the reclamation of desert lands, "authorize[s] and empower[s]" the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary), with the President's approval, upon proper application by a State to donate, grant, and patent such desert lands, not exceeding a specified acreage, as the State should cause to be irrigated, reclaimed, and occupied, provided however, that the lands may be restored to the public domain if the requirements as to reclamation are not satisfied within stated time limits. Under 43 U.S.C. § 643, the Secretary was also authorized, upon request of a State, to withdraw desert lands temporarily from the public domain prior to the State's submission of a formal plan under the Carey Act. Acting pursuant to 43 U.S.C. § 643, Idaho requested that a certain tract of land be temporarily withdrawn from the public domain pending the submission of a proposed development plan under the Act. The Idaho Office of the Bureau of Land Management rejected the application in part because some of the lands requested had already been withdrawn for other purposes, including a portion being used as a stock driveway. Idaho appealed to the Interior Board of Land Appeals with respect to the lands previously withdrawn for stock-driveway purposes, and also petitioned the Board for reclassification of the stock-driveway lands as suitable for use under the Act. Ultimately, the Board affirmed the rejection of Idaho's Carey Act application and returned the case to the Bureau of Land Management for initial action on the petition for reclassification of the stock-driveway lands and for further action on the remaining lands covered by the application for temporary withdrawal. Meanwhile, Idaho filed suit in Federal District Court for a declaration of its rights under the Act. That court held that the State was entitled to up to 2.4 million acres of desert land for which the Secretary was obligated to contract with the State pursuant to the terms of the Act; that the Act, however, was not a grant in praesenti, and the State did not have an absolute right to the particular desert lands that it happened to select; and that if the lands had been withdrawn for another public use pursuant to another statute, the State's remedy was to request reclassification, which the Secretary could not arbitrarily deny. The Court of Appeals affirmed. Held :

1. There is a real case or controversy with respect to the issue presented in the United States' petition for certiorari as to whether, under the Act, the State was entitled to 2.4 million acres of desert land which the Secretary then must reserve from appropriation to other public or private uses, and not just as to the State's entitlement to the lands that had been withdrawn for stock-driveway purposes and that were involved in its Interior Department appeal. Throughout the administrative and judicial proceedings, the parties have taken contrary positions as to whether the State is absolutely entitled to select and have withdrawn under the Act up to 2.4 million acres of desert land regardless of whether the lands it designates have already been withdrawn for other purposes, provided only that statutory preconditions are satisfied. Pp. 722-725.

2. It is apparent from the language and legislative history of the Act that Congress did not intend to reserve any specific number of acres of desert land for any State under the Act, and the Act does not prevent the Secretary from committing otherwise available parts of the public domain for any of the uses authorized under the various statutes relating to the use and management of the public lands. The Act does not oblige the Secretary automatically to contract for lands chosen by the State even if its application otherwise conforms to the statute. Hence, even though a State's selection has not been withdrawn for other uses, the Secretary need not always approve the application. Pp. 725-731.

9 Cir., 595 F.2d 524, affirmed in part and reversed in part.

Stuart A. Smith, Washington, D. C., for petitioner.

David H. Leroy, Boise, Idaho, for respondents.

Mr. Justice WHITE delivered the opinion of the Court.

The Carey Act of 1894, ch. 301, § 4, 28 Stat. 422, 43 U.S.C. § 641, "to aid public-land States" in the reclamation of desert lands, authorizes the Secretary of the Interior upon proper application "to contract and agree, from time to time . . . binding the United States to donate, grant, and patent" such desert lands, not exceeding a specified acreage, as the State should cause to be irrigated, reclaimed, and occupied, provided, however, that the lands would be restored to the public domain if reclamation had not begun and plans were not carried out within stated time limits. Originally, each State covered by the Act was limited to one million acres; but in 1908, the ceiling for Idaho was raised to three million acres. Also, in 1910, upon request of a State, the Secretary was authorized to withdraw desert lands temporarily from the public domain prior to the State's submission of a formal plan under the Carey Act. 36 Stat. 237, 43 U.S.C. § 643 (1970 ed.).¹

Of all Carey Act patents issued, a large majority were issued early in the century, the scarcity of water for irrigation being primarily responsible for the absence of patents in the past 30 years. Improved technology for pumping from deep water sources, however, among other things, has revived interest in reclaiming arid lands.

In 1974, the State of Idaho, acting pursuant to 43 U.S.C. § 643, requested that an identified tract of some 27,400 acres be temporarily withdrawn from the public domain pending the submission of a proposed development plan as required by the Carey Act. In January 1975, the Idaho State Office, Bureau of Land Management, rejected the application in part because some of the lands requested had already been withdrawn for other purposes, including a portion being used as a stock driveway. Idaho appealed to the Interior Board of Land Appeals with respect to the lands previously withdrawn for stock-driveway purposes.² Idaho also filed with the Board a petition under § 7 of the Taylor Grazing Act, 48 Stat. 1272, as amended, 49 Stat. 1976, 43 U.S.C. § 315f, for reclassification of the stock-driveway lands as suitable for use under the Carey Act.

The Board, in its decision issued on July 31, 1975, found that the applicable regulations prevented it from withholding action on the Carey Act application pending a decision on the Taylor Act reclassification petition.³ The Board then rejected Idaho's assertion that its Carey Act application took precedence over any withdrawal subsequent to the date of the Act because the Act was a grant in praesenti or because the grant, when the specified conditions were fulfilled, related back to the date of the Act. The Board adhered to its prior decision in State of Wyoming, 36 L.D. 399 (1908), which held that under the Carey Act "the acceptance of the offer of the State is a matter wholly within the discretion of the Department." That being so, the State had no rights whatsoever to have any application approved. The Board further repeated Wyoming's statement that if lands had been withdrawn for other purposes, the presumption that the withdrawal was proper is "conclusive," the lands were not available for a claim under the Carey Act, and the State was not entitled to a hearing "for the purpose of determining whether or not [the Secretary's] discretion has been properly exercised." Id., at 400. The Board, therefore, affirmed the rejection of Idaho's Carey Act application. The case was returned to the Bureau of Land Management for initial action on the petition for reclassification of the stock-driveway lands and for further action on the remaining lands covered by the application for temporary withdrawal.

Meanwhile, in February 1975, the State of Idaho, through its appropriate officials, filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Idaho against the Secretary of the Interior. The State alleged that by virtue of the Carey Act, the United States "has bound itself to donate, grant and patent to the State of Idaho . . . three million acres of desert lands," that "these lands are subject to temporary withdrawal and/or segregation upon [the State's] request," that the Secretary is "without any discretion to deny desert lands once requested," and that the Secretary now asserts that "he will not allow the requests for segregation or withdrawal under the Carey Act as a matter of right." The State prayed for a declaration of its rights under the Carey Act.⁴ The Secre- tary's answer admitted that he would not allow requests for segregation or withdrawal as a matter of right but denied the remainder of the foregoing allegations.

On cross-motions for summary judgment, Idaho submitted that the Carey Act had been an immediately effective grant, or at least that the United States was firmly obligated to contract with and patent the statutory acreage to Idaho when and if Idaho satisfied the statutory preconditions. In the State's view, Carey Act applications took precedence over prior withdrawals. The Secretary, therefore, had been wrong to deny Idaho's request for temporary withdrawal, even though the specified lands had already been withdrawn for other purposes. The United States, to the contrary, asserted that the Carey Act granted nothing to Idaho, had not obligated the Secretary to contract with Idaho with respect to any desert lands selected by the State, but had merely authorized the Secretary to contract if he, in his unbridled discretion, saw fit to do so. The Secretary, therefore, had committed no error and had not exceeded his authority under the Carey Act or any other law when he denied the ...