Friends of Boundary Waters v. Bosworth, 04-3629.
| Citation | 437 F.3d 815 |
| Decision Date | 15 February 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 04-3629.,No. 04-3632.,04-3629.,04-3632. |
| Parties | FRIENDS OF THE BOUNDARY WATERS WILDERNESS; Sierra Club; Superior Wilderness Action Network; American Lands Alliance, Minnesota Canoe Association, American Canoe Association, Minnesotans for Responsible Recreation, Plaintiffs/Appellees, v. Dale N. BOSWORTH, Chief of the United States Forest Service; Mike Johanns, Secretary of Agriculture,<SMALL><SUP>1</SUP></SMALL> Defendants/Appellants, Conservationists with Common Sense; Ely Outfitters Association; Gunflint Trail Outfitters Association; Seagull-Saganaga Homeowners Association, Intervenor Defendants/Appellants. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit) |
Counsel who presented argument on behalf of the appellees was Colette Routel of Minneapolis, MN. Also appearing on the brief were Brian B. O'Neill, Richard A. Duncan and Elizabeth H. Schmiesing.
Before BYE, HEANEY, and COLLOTON, Circuit Judges.
The defendants and intervenor defendants, collectively referred to as the United States Forest Service (USFS), appeal the district court's grant of summary judgment to the plaintiffs, collectively referred to as the Friends of the Boundary Waters (Friends). Specifically, the USFS appeals the district court's ruling the USFS did not have authority to recalculate the average actual annual motorboat use during 1976-78 within certain lake chains of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) to include uses improperly excluded from its initial base period calculation. The USFS also appeals the district court's alternate finding the recalculation was arbitrary and capricious. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
The BWCAW was one of the first wilderness areas recognized under the Wilderness Act of 1964. 16 U.S.C. §§ 1131-36 & note. As the largest wilderness area east of the Rocky Mountains and north of Everglades National Park, it comprises approximately 1,080,300 acres of forest land encompassing over 1,175 lakes connected by several hundred miles of streams and rivers. See Minnesota v. Block, 660 F.2d 1240, 1247 (8th Cir.1981). It provides habitat for hundreds of species, including the gray wolf, pine marten, bald eagle, black bear, moose, and lynx.
The Wilderness Act generally prohibits all motorboat use within wilderness areas protected by the Act. However, the BWCAW was excepted from this general prohibition insofar as established motorboat use within the BWCAW and other motorboat use not undermining the ability to maintain the "primitive character of the area" were permitted. 16 U.S.C. § 1133(d)(5) (1976). In 1978, however, Congress reconsidered the BWCAW exception to the Wilderness Act. "[I]n reaction to threatened deterioration of the wilderness from excessive use," Congress enacted the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act, Pub.L. No. 95-495, 92 Stat. 1649 (BWCAW Act). See also Block, 660 F.2d at 1246.
The BWCAW Act prohibited all motorboat use within the BWCAW except on specifically enumerated lakes comprising approximately one-quarter of its waters.2 The motorboat use allowed by the BWCAW Act is circumscribed: the Secretary of Agriculture is directed to establish motorboat quotas restricting use to less than or equal to the "average actual annual motorboat use of the calendar years 1976, 1977, and 1978." BWCAW Act § 4(f).3 The quota levels are "based on such criteria as the size and configuration of each lake, and the amount of use on that lake." Id. In determining the "average actual annual motorboat use," motorboat use by "lake homeowners and their guests and resort owners and their guests on that particular lake" is not counted. Id.
The BWCAW Act was passed to ensure the BWCAW's wilderness character would be preserved. See Block, 660 F.2d at 1250 (). Limiting motorboat use is integral to preserving the wilderness values and primitive character of the area. See United States v. Gotchnik, 57 F.Supp.2d 798, 804 (D.Minn.1999), aff'd, 222 F.3d 506 (8th Cir.2000).
In 1981, the USFS initially calculated the "average actual annual motorboat use." In doing so, the USFS considered computer data and analyses, wilderness permit data, records of motorboat use during 1976-78, public comments, and interviews. For three chains of lakes-the Moose Lake Chain, the Saganaga Lake Chain, and the Farm Lake Chain-the USFS deemed use by home and resort owners (as well as their guests) within the lake chain encompassing their property to be exempt from the base period use calculation. The USFS determined the Moose Lake Chain encompassed Moose, Sucker, Newfound, and Birch Lakes; the Saganaga Lake Chain included Saganaga Lake, Seagull River, and Gull Lake; and the Farm Lake Chain included White Iron, Farm, Garden, and South Farm Lakes.4 Accordingly, the USFS concluded motorboat use by homeowners, resort owners, and their guests did not affect the base period use calculation or quota system and did not require permits when such use was limited to their lake chain. The USFS calculated the base period day use — as opposed to overnight use — as 14,925 day trips for the BWCAW. The base period use calculated for the three lake chains at issue was 3,205 day trips.5
In 1993, the USFS determined allowing motorboat use to the maximum extent possible under the statute was "strain[ing] the wilderness environment and [was] tending to degrade the intended primitive and unconfined recreation experience" of the BWCAW. It therefore established the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Management Plan and Implementation Schedule of 1993 (1993 BWCA Plan) to set the motorboat day-use quotas at approximately seventy-five percent of the base period use calculation. The motorboat day-use permit quota was set at 7,902 permits for the entire BWCAW. The day-use permit quota for the three lake chains was set at 2,376 day-use permits.6 One day-use permit can accommodate a group of up to four boats or multiple trips in one day. Admin. R. (A.R.) Exh. 14, at 82.
In 1999, this court concluded the USFS's interpretation that homeowner, resort, and guest lake chain use did not require a permit was contrary to the plain language of the BWCAW Act. Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness v. Dombeck, 164 F.3d 1115, 1124-25 (8th Cir. 1999). The court concluded the term "particular lake" in the BWCAW Act did not mean a lake chain but referred to each individually-named lake. Id. Accordingly, Dombeck held use by homeowners, resort owners, and their guests is exempted from a permit requirement only when such use is limited to the lake adjoining the owners' properties. Use on any other lake requires a permit.7
Because the USFS did not include homeowner, resort, or guest non-exempt lake chain use when initially calculating the base period use, the quotas established by the USFS did not account for non-exempt lake chain use. Given the fixed quotas, the Dombeck ruling increased demand for permits as homeowners, resorts, and guests were required to obtain permits for non-exempt lake chain use. In 2002, the USFS responded to this increased demand by recalculating the base period use and correlated quotas to include non-exempt lake chain use. The recalculated base period use figures for the entire BWCAW establish a maximum quota of 15,999 day-use permits.8 The USFS applied the 1993 BWCA Plan to establish quotas at seventy-five percent of the recalculated base period use. Accordingly, pursuant to the 1993 BWCA Plan, the recalculated total quota for the three lake chains at issue is 6,892 day-use permits.9
Friends challenged the recalculated base period use figure, arguing the USFS lacks authority to recalculate the base period use and the recalculation was arbitrary and capricious. Friends also challenged USFS's recalculated quotas as exceeding the base period use in violation of the BWCAW Act. The district court agreed with Friends, ruling at summary judgment the USFS was without authority to recalculate the base period use and the recalculation was arbitrary and capricious. The district court did not reach Friends' challenges to the quotas established by the USFS.
We review de novo a district court's grant of summary judgment, applying the same legal standards used by the district court. Voyageurs Nat'l Park Ass'n v. Norton, 381 F.3d 759, 763 (8th Cir.2004). Summary judgment is proper when there is "no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Employers Mut. Cas. Co. v. Wendland, 351 F.3d 890, 893 (8th Cir.2003). "We may affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment on any ground supported by the record." Woods v. Daimler-Chrysler Corp., 409 F.3d 984, 990 (8th Cir.2005).
We view the evidence and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. In re Derailment Cases, 416 F.3d 787, 792 (8th Cir.2005). An issue of fact is genuine when a "reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). However, "[t]he nonmoving party may not rest on mere allegations or denials, but must show a genuine issue of material fact (or that the movant is not entitled to judgment)." Wenzel v. Mo.Am. Water Co., 404 F.3d 1038, 1039 (8th Cir.2005) (internal quotation omitted).
Judicial review of federal agency administrative decisions is, unless expressly stated otherwise, governed by the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). 5 U.S.C. § 706; In re Sac & Fox Tribe of Miss....
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