Nature Conservancy v. Machipongo Club, Inc., s. 76-2086
| Decision Date | 31 July 1978 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 76-2086,76-2087,s. 76-2086 |
| Parties | The NATURE CONSERVANCY, Appellee, v. MACHIPONGO CLUB, INC., a West Virginia Corporation, Appellant. The NATURE CONSERVANCY, Appellant, v. MACHIPONGO CLUB, INC., a West Virginia Corporation, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
Allan Gates, Timothy B. Atkeson, Hardy Wieting, Jr., Washington, D. C., for appellee in No. 76-2086 and for appellant in No. 76-2087.
Herbert H. Bateman, Newport News, Va., and William W. Talbot, Webster Springs, W. Va., for appellant in No. 76-2086 and for appellee in No. 76-2087.
Anthony F. Troy, Atty. Gen. of Virginia, and James E. Moore, Asst. Atty. Gen., Richmond, Va., for amicus curiae Commonwealth of Virginia.
Before WINTER and RUSSELL, Circuit Judges, and FIELD, Senior Circuit Judge.
The parties and the Commonwealth of Virginia have all filed petitions for rehearing, some with suggestions for rehearing in banc. The petitions reargue the correctness of the several issues which were presented by this appeal, including (1) the Conservancy's right to prohibit use of the North-South Road, (2) the Conservancy's right to prohibit travel on the Atlantic beaches not within the confines of Machipongo's property, (3) the Conservancy's right to prohibit use of the meadow and marshlands by the public for fishing and fowling, and (4) whether Machipongo had obtained a right-of-way from the property it purchased to the beach (the so-called Beach Access Road).
In our opinion, we decided that Machipongo had not obtained title to the Beach Access Road. In this respect, we reversed the judgment of the district court. We affirmed the judgment of the district court with respect to its holding that the North-South Road was not a public road and therefore the Conservancy could prohibit use of it, that the Conservancy could prohibit travel on the beaches not within the confines of Machipongo's property, and that the Conservancy could not prohibit the use of the meadow and marshlands for fishing and fowling by the public.
In deciding the rights of the parties with respect to use of the beaches not within the confines of Machipongo's property and use of the meadow and marshlands for fishing and fowling, the district court was obliged to consider and apply a number of Virginia statutes which had not been authoritatively construed by the Virginia courts.
Subsequent to the filing of the several petitions for rehearing and before we had taken formal action thereon, we were advised that there has been filed in the Circuit Court for the County of Northampton, Virginia, a bill of complaint for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief. The bill of complaint was filed by numerous Virginia citizens and residents against the Conservancy and its resident manager. The bill of complaint seeks an adjudication as to whether the Conservancy has title to the Atlantic beaches outside of the confines of Machipongo's property and to the meadow and marshlands of Hog Island with the right to bar the plaintiffs and other members of the public therefrom. It is alleged that, to the extent that the Conservancy claims title to the beaches and to the meadow and marshlands by virtue of grants from the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1901, the grants are void by virtue of various statutes of the Commonwealth of Virginia, as the statutes should be properly construed and applied. The bill of complaint further asserts that the North-South Road is a public road by dedication and acceptance or by prescriptive right, and that there are other roads and easements on Hog Island which, through long and uninterrupted use by the owners of property on Hog Island the public at large, have become and remain lawful roadways or easements permitting access to and ingress and egress to and from the shores, creeks and landings on Hog Island.
Since the district court, in deciding the instant case, was exercising diversity jurisdiction, it was its function as well as ours to apply the law of Virginia as articulated by the Supreme Court of Virginia, or as we in our informed judgment predicted would be applied by the Supreme Court of Virginia were the case before it. Erie R.R. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938). In deciding the issues of whether the Conservancy acquired title to the Atlantic beaches outside of the confines of Machipongo's property and to the meadow and marshlands, and the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
United States v. Cargill, Inc.
...the case which give rise to the effects which justify its grant. Dellinger v. Mitchell, supra, 442 F.2d at 787; see Nature Conservancy v. Machipongo Club, Inc., 579 F.2d 873 (C.A.4), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 1047, 99 S.Ct. 724, 58 L.Ed.2d 706 (1978). For these reasons, a complete abatement or......
-
Haigh v. Matsushita Elec. Corp. of America
...& Co., 739 F.2d 962 (4th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1216, 105 S.Ct. 1194, 84 L.Ed.2d 340 (1985); Nature Conservancy v. Machipongo Club, Inc., 579 F.2d 873 (4th Cir.) (per curiam), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 1047, 99 S.Ct. 724, 58 L.Ed.2d 706 (1978); Walker v. Winchester Memorial Hospital......
-
Essentia Insurance Company v. Stephens
...that state would rule." Brendle v. Gen. Tire & Rubber Co., 505 F.2d 243, 245 (4th Cir. 1974) ; see Nature Conservancy v. Machipongo Club, Inc., 579 F.2d 873, 875 (4th Cir. 1978) (per curiam). However, where the highest state court "has spoken neither directly nor indirectly on the particula......
-
Am. General Ins. Co. v. Equitable General Corp.
...as . . . this Court predicts it would be applied by the Supreme Court of Virginia were the case before it." Nature Conservancy v. Machipango Club, Inc., 579 F.2d 873, 875 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 1047, 99 S.Ct. 724, 58 L.Ed.2d 706 The Second Restatement of Conflicts § 191 provides......