Ashley v. Andrus

• Citation: 474 F. Supp. 495
• Decision Date: 16 August 1979
• Docket Number: No. 79-C-60.,79-C-60.
• Parties: Eleanor P. ASHLEY, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Charles D. Ashley, Plaintiff, v. Cecil D. ANDRUS, Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Wisconsin

474 F. Supp. 495

Eleanor P. ASHLEY, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Charles D. Ashley, Plaintiff, v. Cecil D. ANDRUS, Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior, Defendant.

No. 79-C-60.

United States District Court, E. D. Wisconsin.

August 16, 1979.

Scott W. Hansen, Reinhart, Boerner, Van Deuren, Norris & Reiselbach, S. C., Milwaukee, Wis., for plaintiff.

Charles H. Bohl, Asst. U. S. Atty., Milwaukee, Wis., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WARREN, District Judge.

This is a civil action in which the plaintiff, as the personal representative of the estate of Charles D. Ashley, seeks a declaratory judgment that the Department of the Interior's interpretation of 30 U.S.C. § 181 et seq. and 43 C.F.R. § 3102.1-1 et seq. is arbitrary, capricious and contrary to the law, or in the alternative, plaintiff seeks declaratory judgment that if the Interior Department's interpretation is correct, that the statutes and regulations are unconstitutional. Pursuant to Rule 12(b)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, defendant moves to dismiss this action for improper venue. Plaintiff opposes defendant's motion and has moved to strike portions of defendant's motion.

According to plaintiff's complaint, the following events occurred which culminated in this litigation. In November of 1977, the decedent, Charles D. Ashley, contracted with the Resource Service Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to file application cards with respect to oil and gas lotteries pursuant to 34 C.F.R. § 3102 et seq. According to the complaint, Mr. Ashley signed and delivered in advance numerous application cards, instructing Resource Service Company to file the application cards for lotteries to be held during the following twelve months. On February 8, 1978, before the twelve months had expired, Mr. Ashley died. His widow, Eleanor P. Ashley, as the personal representative of Mr. Ashley's estate, confirmed the lottery procedure entered into by Ashley at Resource Service Company and directed the company to continue filing application cards previously signed and submitted by the decedent.

Several application cards were filed on April 21, 1978, and on May 4, 1978, one of these application cards was selected first in the lottery, which entitled the winner to enter into a lease for the oil and gas rights to a parcel numbered MT789. Thereafter, on May 17, 1978, plaintiff, as personal representative, paid the Department of the Interior the first year rental on the parcel as required by 43 C.F.R. § 3112.4-1. According to the complaint, the Department accepted payment and to date has not refunded same.

On June 2, 1978, the Bureau of Land Management made a determination that plaintiff's application was not qualified to win the lottery since the decedent had died prior to the date on which the card was drawn. Plaintiff appealed this ruling to the Department's Interior Board of Land Appeal on the ground that the local officials had misconstrued 43 C.F.R. § 3102.1 et seq. and 30 U.S.C. § 181 et seq. But the appeal board determined that the regulations and statutes did not authorize plaintiff application as the personal representative of the estate of Charles Ashley. Thereafter, plaintiff commenced this action for determination by this Court of whether the Department of the Interior properly interpreted the statutes and regulations controlling oil and gas lease lotteries.

Plaintiff claims that venue properly lies in this district pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391 that provides that:

A civil action in which a defendant is an officer or an employee of the United States or any agency thereof acting in his official capacity or under color of legal authority, or an agency of the United States, may, except as otherwise provided by law, be brought in any judicial district in which . . . (4) the plaintiff resides if no real property is involved in this action.

It is plaintiff's argument that no real property is involved in this action. Defendant, on the other hand, argues that real property is involved in this action and that, therefore, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(e)(3), venue properly lies in the district where the lease interest is located.

The issue in this case is whether the lawsuit involves real property, and is thus a local action, or whether this is a transitory matter not involving real property. See, 1 Moore's Federal Practice, § 0.1422-1. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(e)(4), it is clear that if the subject matter of this lawsuit is real property, then venue in this district is not proper and the complaint should be filed in the appropriate district of North Dakota, where the leasehold is located.

There is no doubt that the underlying relief sought in this lawsuit is plaintiff's right, in her capacity as the personal representative of the estate of Charles D. Ashley, the lottery applicant, to the leasehold awarded in the lottery. There is also no doubt, however, that in her complaint, plaintiff is not seeking to have this Court award the property to her. Rather, plaintiff is merely seeking a declaration that the Department of the Interior has incorrectly interpreted the appropriate statutes and regulations, or if the Department correctly interpreted the statutes and regulations, that nevertheless the statutes and regulations are unconstitutional. Presumably, after such a determination, plaintiff would assert her rights to...