Pacific Legal Foundation v. Watt

Decision Date19 January 1982
Docket NumberNo. CV-81-141-BLG,CV-81-168-BLG.,CV-81-141-BLG
PartiesPACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION, a non-profit California Corporation, et al., Plaintiffs, v. James G. WATT, In his official capacity as Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior, Defendant, and The Bob Marshall Alliance, the Wilderness Society and the Sierra Club, as Intervening Defendants. MOUNTAIN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION, a non-profit Colorado corporation, Plaintiff, v. James G. WATT, Secretary of the United States Department of Interior, John R. Block, Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, Defendants, and The Bob Marshall Alliance, the Wilderness Society, and the Sierra Club, as Intervening Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — District of Montana

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Robin L. Rivett with Ronald A. Zumbrum, Sacramento, Cal., Raymond M. Momboisse, Washington, D. C., Robert K. Best, Harold J. Hughes and David M. Shell on brief, Pacific Legal Foundation, Sacramento, Cal., and William H. Bellingham, Billings, Mont., on brief, for plaintiff Pacific Legal Foundation, et al.

Kea Bardeen and William H. Mellor III, Mountain States Legal Foundation, Denver, Colo., for plaintiff Mountain States Legal Foundation.

Ezra D. Rosenberg, Asst. Atty. Gen., Land & Natural Resources Div., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., with Carol Dinkins, Theodore B. Olson, Charlotte R. Bell, and Thomas O. Sargentich, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., on the brief, for defendants.

James H. Goetz, Goetz, Madden & Dunn, Bozeman, Mont., for The Bob Marshall Alliance and The Wilderness Society, intervening defendants.

Karin P. Sheldon with William S. Curtiss, Denver, Colo., on brief, Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, Inc. and James A. Patten, Patten & Renz, Billings, Mont., for Sierra Club, intervening defendant.

Stanley M. Brand, Counsel to Clerk, with Steven R. Ross, Michael L. Murray, Washington, D. C., on brief, United States House of Representatives, for Honorable Morris K. Udall and Honorable Manuel Lujan, Jr. House of Representatives, amici curiae.

Charles Tiefer, Asst. Senate Legal Counsel, with Michael Davidson and M. Elizabeth Culbreth, Washington, D. C., on brief, United States Senate, for United States Senate, amicus curiae.

Honorable Max Baucus, Washington, D. C., amicus curiae.

MEMORANDUM DECISION

JAMESON, District Judge.

In these consolidated actions1 the plaintiffs challenge Public Land Order No. 5952 issued by the Secretary of the Interior on June 1, 1981, purporting to withdraw from disposition under "all laws pertaining to mineral leasing..." the Bob Marshall, Scapegoat and Great Bear Wilderness Areas. The Secretary's action was taken pursuant to a resolution adopted by the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, acting under the authority of section 204(e) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, 43 U.S.C. §§ 1701 et seq. (FLPMA), finding that an emergency situation existed in these wilderness areas and directing the Secretary to withdraw the areas from the operation of mineral leasing laws until January 1, 1984. Specifically the plaintiffs seek a judgment declaring that (1) section 204(e) is unconstitutional in that it violates either the separation of powers doctrine or the bicameralism principle and presentment clause; and (2) the directive of the House Committee is invalid because it (a) is an unlawful usurpation of the discretionary authority delegated to the Secretary by section 204(e); (b) impermissibly conflicts with section 4(d)(3) of the Wilderness Act; (c) deprives lease applicants of due process; and (d) is arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion.

On June 15, 1981, plaintiff Pacific Legal Foundation and defendant James G. Watt as Secretary of the Interior, stipulated that it was "in the highest national interest to resolve the legal issue ... as soon as possible," and "that there are no genuine issues of material fact in dispute and that the pivotal issues are issues of law subject to resolution on summary judgment ...." Pursuant to a request in the stipulation, the court invited both Houses of Congress to participate in the proceedings as amici curiae.

On August 17, 1981, an order was entered granting the motions of The Bob Marshall Alliance, The Wilderness Society, and The Sierra Club to intervene as defendants. Pursuant to stipulation of counsel for all parties, it was ordered that all legal and factual issues relating to the allegations that the action of the House Committee was arbitrary and capricious will be held in abeyance pending resolution of the other constitutional, statutory authority, and statutory interpretation issues raised by plaintiffs. The parties agreed upon a briefing schedule.

Motions for summary judgment were filed by the plaintiffs and a cross-motion by the intervening defendants The Bob Marshall Alliance and The Wilderness Society. The federal defendants filed a cross-motion to dismiss and/or for summary judgment. Extensive briefs were filed by all of the parties; and memoranda as amici curiae were filed by the United States Senate, the Honorable Max Baucus, United States Senator, and the Honorable Morris K. Udall, Chairman, and the Honorable Manuel Lujan, Jr. Ranking Republican Member, on behalf of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, United States House of Representatives. Oral argument was presented on December 1, 1981.

I. Background
A. Wilderness Act of 1964

The Bob Marshall, Great Bear and Scapegoat Wilderness Areas are all part of the National Wilderness Preservation System created by the National Wilderness Act of 1964. 16 U.S.C. § 1131 et seq. (1976). The Wilderness Act provided, inter alia, that mineral exploration and leasing activities in the designated wilderness areas would be permitted to continue until midnight December 31, 1983, after which all exploration and new leasing would cease. Section 4(d)(3), 16 U.S.C. § 1133(d)(3) (1976).

Between 1970 and June 6, 1981, over 340 noncompetitive oil and gas lease applications in these areas were filed with the Bureau of Land Management.2 No leases have been issued for any of the applications. On May 21, 1981, notice was published in the Federal Register that the Forest Service—Northern Region was beginning to prepare the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on which it would base its recommendation to the Secretary of the Interior on pending noncompetitive oil and gas leases, including those in these areas. 46 Fed.Reg. 27735 (May 21, 1981).3

B. Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976

The FLPMA was enacted in 1976 to guide the Secretary of the Interior in administering the public lands more effectively. 43 U.S.C. §§ 1701-1782 (1976). Section 204(e)4 provides in part that if either the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives or the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate5 notifies the Secretary of the Interior that an emergency situation exists, the Secretary shall immediately make a withdrawal of the affected lands.

C. Resolution Adopted by House Committee

On May 21, 1981, the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, following a hearing,6 adopted, by a vote of 23 to 18, a resolution finding that an "emergency" situation existed in the Bob Marshall, Scapegoat and Great Bear Wilderness Areas and that "extraordinary measures" must be taken "to preserve values that otherwise would be lost." The resolution authorized and directed the Committee chairman to direct the Secretary to withdraw immediately these lands until January 1, 1984 "from all forms of disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral leasing and all amendments thereto, subject to valid existing rights."

The Committee chairman, Representative Udall, by letter dated May 21, 1981, sent a copy of the resolution to Secretary Watt. His letter concluded:

As required by the Act, you are to make this withdrawal immediately and you are to file notice of such emergency withdrawal with this Committee and its Senate counterpart. Additionally, you are required to furnish said Committees the information specified in section 204(c)(2) within three months.7

On June 1, 1981, the Secretary issued Public Land Order No. 5952, withdrawing "approximately 1.5 million acres of National forest lands in the Bob Marshall, Scapegoat, and Great Bear Wilderness Areas from mineral leasing in response to an emergency withdrawal resolution adopted by the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee on May 21, 1981."

On June 1, 1981, the Secretary sent Representative Udall and the chairman of the Senate Committee a copy of Public Land Order No. 5952. In the letter of transmittal to Representative Udall, the Secretary questioned (1) the validity of the basis "for declaring an emergency to exist"; (2) the "constitutionality of the action" he had been "directed ... to take";8 and (3) the statutory authority to withdraw the lands. Nevertheless, "in the interest of maintaining harmony between Congress and the Executive", he issued the order "in keeping with the directive of the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee."

II. Contentions of Parties

The diverse contentions set forth in the briefs of the parties and amici curiae may be summarized as follows:

The plaintiffs contend that (1) section 204(e) is unconstitutional because its application through unilateral action by the House Committee (a) violates the separation of powers doctrine, (b) delegates executive power to the committee, (c) violates the requirement of bicameralism, (d) deprives the President of his veto power, and (e) deprives plaintiffs of due process; (2) the Committee exceeded its statutory authority under section 204(e) by withdrawing the areas when there was no emergency situation; and (3) the emergency withdrawal power under section 204(e) cannot be used to frustrate section 4(d)(3) of the Wilderness Act.9

The federal defendants contend that...

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4 cases
  • Mountain States Legal Foundation v. Hodel, C86-022-K.
    • United States
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    ...to have a lease application or offer considered in accordance with law is sufficient interest for standing. Pacific Legal Foundation v. Watt, 529 F.Supp. 982, 990-992 (D.Mt.1981); see also Arnold v. Morton, 529 F.2d 1101, 1106 (9th Cir. 1976); Schraier v. Hickel, 419 F.2d 663, 667 (D.C. Cir......
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    ...Memorandum in Support of Preliminary Injunction at 10. Plaintiffs rely upon Judge Jameson's recent decision in Pacific Legal Foundation v. Watt, 529 F.Supp. 982 (D.Mont.1982), sustaining another temporary withdrawal so long as the Secretary of Interior had the last word as to the duration o......
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    • 3 Febrero 1992
    ...exercised in accordance with the rules and procedural requirements of FLPMA which is subject to judicial review. Pacific Legal Foundation v. Watt, 529 F.Supp. 982 (D.Mont.1981). As discussed above, a proper extension of Public Land Order 6403 could only be made if the Secretary determined t......
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    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Montana
    • 3 Junio 1982
    ...filed a motion for clarification and, "in combination or in the alternative", for reconsideration of the judgment entered on January 18, 1982, 529 F.Supp. 982. The congressional amici filed a "suggestion" that the cases be dismissed as moot. Plaintiff Mountain States Legal Foundation suppor......
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