State ex rel. Evans v. Click

• Decision Date: 27 May 1981
• Docket Number: No. 13057,13057
• Citation: 631 P.2d 614,102 Idaho 443
• Parties: STATE of Idaho ex rel. John V. EVANS, Governor, Pete T. Cenarrusa, Secretary of State; Wayne L. Kidwell, Attorney General; Roy E. Truby, Superintendent of Public Instruction; and Joe R. Williams, Auditor, as the State Board of Land Commissioners; Gordon C. Trombley, Superintendent of Public Lands, and the Idaho State Board of Health, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. James CLICK, Sr., Eugene Weiss and Orral Lake, Individually and as a Mining Partnership, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

Page 614

631 P.2d 614

102 Idaho 443

STATE of Idaho ex rel. John V. EVANS, Governor, Pete T. Cenarrusa, Secretary of State; Wayne L. Kidwell, Attorney General; Roy E. Truby, Superintendent of Public Instruction; and Joe R. Williams, Auditor, as the State Board of Land Commissioners; Gordon C. Trombley, Superintendent of Public Lands, and the Idaho State Board of Health, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. James CLICK, Sr., Eugene Weiss and Orral Lake, Individually and as a Mining Partnership, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 13057.

Supreme Court of Idaho.

May 27, 1981.

Rehearing Denied Aug. 17, 1981.

Barry L. Marcus, Boise, for defendants-appellants.

David H. Leroy, Atty. Gen., Ursula I. Kettlewell, Roy L. Eiguren and Lynn E. Thomas, Deputy Attys. Gen., Boise, for plaintiffs-respondents.

McFADDEN, Justice.

The defendants-appellants are residents of Montana doing business in Idaho as a mining partnership. In 1969, they commenced dredge mining activities on unpatented federal land in the St. Joe National Forest (now the Idaho Panhandle National Forest.) The mining claims are located adjacent to Sherlock Creek, a tributary of the St. Joe River.

In 1972, the plaintiff-respondent State of Idaho commenced an action against the appellants seeking to enjoin their mining activities under the Idaho Dredge and Placer Mining Protection Act, I.C. § 47-1312 et seq., until they secured a permit under the act. ¹ The complaint also sought restoration of the area already impacted. I.C. § 47-1324, 47-1314. A temporary restraining order was sought, and granted, halting the mining pending determination of the state's motion for a preliminary injunction. This order was dissolved due to the concurrent prosecution of a federal action concerning the same mining operation. However, the federal courts abstained pending resolution of the state action, and the state's earlier motion for a preliminary injunction was again set for hearing. The district court granted this motion and enjoined appellants' mining during the pendency of the litigation. Appellants soon thereafter answered the complaint and filed a counterclaim seeking declaratory relief in the form of a holding that the act was unconstitutional under one or more theories. In 1975, the district court held the Idaho act in conflict with the power of the federal government to manage and dispose of public domain land under the Property Clause (U.S.Const. Art. IV, § 3, cl. 2) and therefore had to fail under the Supremacy Clause (Art. VI cl. 2). The court then dissolved the preliminary injunction and enjoined the state from enforcing the act against the appellants.

Upon the state's appeal, this court in State ex rel. Andrus v. Click, 97 Idaho 791, 554 P.2d 969 (1976) (Click I ), reversed the decision, holding that there was no conflict between the state and federal laws as they applied to this situation sufficient to invoke the preemption of the Supremacy Clause. The case was remanded for continuation of proceedings upon the state's original complaint.

In March 1978, on remand, the State continued the litigation by filing a motion seeking another preliminary injunction against the appellants' mining activities pending resolution of the action as well as a motion to consolidate the hearing on this injunction with a hearing on the issues raised by the original complaint and answer. See I.R.C.P. 65(a). These proceedings essentially sought prohibition of further activity on Sherlock Creek and restoration of the extant impact pursuant to I.C. § 47-1324. Hearing was held on both matters in early 1978. The district court rendered a decision on July 7, 1978, holding that the appellants were perpetually enjoined from further operations unless and until such time as they secured a permit under the act and, further, that immediate restoration of the impacted area was required. This order further appointed the director of the Idaho Department of Lands as a special master to oversee restoration and in the process provide a restoration plan. Should the appellants fail to comply with this plan, the order stated, the State could implement the plan and the costs thereof would constitute a "lien" on the appellants' property.

After this decision was entered, one of the appellants did some earth moving activity at the site of the mining operations without prior leave of the district court. The court found the appellant in contempt for violating the terms of the injunction.

In January 1979, the district court entered an order, to operate pending appeal, which stayed the restoration provisions of the July 1978 order (initially for one year); extended the "lien" provided for in the earlier order to cover the appellants' machinery as well as their claims; and enjoined the appellants from moving any of their equipment from the site without prior court authorization.

A hearing was held in July 1979 on the state's proposed restoration plan which had been prepared pursuant to the provisions in the earlier orders. An order was subsequently entered approving the State's plan.

The appellants have appealed the decisions of the district court enjoining their mining operations, requiring restoration, imposing the "lien" on their claims and machinery, and awarding costs and attorney fees to the State relative to the contempt charge.

Appellants first contend that the order requiring restoration impermissibly conflicts with federally granted mining rights and thus, under Click I, must fail.

The question of conflict between state and federal law in this situation and any consequent preemption under the Supremacy Clause was addressed at length in Click I. It would serve no purpose to reiterate that entire discussion here. The court held in Click I :

"We find no such conflict (sufficient for pre-emption) is presented by the provisions of the Idaho Act requiring a permit or the restoration of the land. Neither the requirement of obtaining a permit or of restoring the land render it impossible to exercise rights specifically granted by the federal legislation, although they may make it more difficult." (Footnote omitted.) 97 Idaho at 797, 554 P.2d at 995.

Appellants state in their brief that enforcement of the Idaho act would "prevent" further mining. However, an analysis of the testimony of the appellant Weiss, certainly the evidence most supportive of this argument, indicates only that restoration would "interfere" with the mining and increase the costs of the operation. The expert testimony offered by the State indicated that restoration and mining activity were compatible though mining is made more difficult. The conclusion that these apparently dissimilar goals are generally viewed today as concurrently achievable is further evidenced by federal mining law with which the Idaho act is alleged to conflict; that is, federal law concerning mining on national forest land itself has analogous "permit," bond, and restoration components. See generally 36 CFR 252. ² In general appellants' contention that the restoration requirements render it factually "impossible" for appellants to exercise federal mining rights, and thus come within the above quoted portion of Click I, is not supported by the evidence. Without such a showing, Click I is dispositive upon this point. There is substantial and competent evidence contrary to the appellants' contention in this regard which supports the conclusions reached by the district court. The order of restoration is therefore affirmed. Cougar Bay Co. Inc. v. Bristol, 100 Idaho 380, 383, 597 P.2d 1070, 1073 (1979).

The appellants raise a subsidiary issue in regard to the restoration requirement. They contend that certain language in the act, found in I.C. § 47-1314, limits the time at which a requirement to restore the area may be imposed to that period after the conclusion of mining operations. Therefore, they argue, since they have not concluded their plans for mining in the Sherlock Creek area, the injunction mandating restoration is premature.

Appellants, in this regard, place great reliance upon the last sentence in I.C. § 47-1314, which states:

"Lands dredged or placered to be smoothed and watercourses replaced. Where any person, firm, or corporation conducts a dredge or other placer mining operation on lands and beds of streams in the state of Idaho, it is hereby required that the ground disturbed thereby shall be by such operator leveled and smoothed over reasonably comparable with the natural contour of the ground prior to such disturbance, and to a condition conducive to the growth of verdure, and any watercourse disturbed by such dredging shall be by such operator replaced on meander lines with pool structure conducive to good fish and wildlife habitat and recreational use. Whenever a dredging or other placer operation results in the substantial removal of topsoil, as determined by the state land board, the operator shall be required to restore the land to its original condition, by the addition of topsoil and the planting of grass, trees and other vegetation, insofar as is reasonably possible after the conclusion of the dredging operation." (Appellants' emphasis.)

This reliance is misplaced.

At the outset it can be observed that the specific language emphasized by appellants in the above section appears to concern the problem of replacing topsoil and planting vegetation when substantial amounts of topsoil have been removed during the dredging operation. The more general requirement of restoring the land contours and watercourses disturbed as set forth in the first part of this section contains no such arguably restrictive language. Appellants, however, choose to argue that this single phrase should be construed to halt all restoration until after the appellants have decided that their operations have been concluded.

We must consider appellants' contentions in this regard in light of well established rules of statutory construction. Where there is ambiguity or where...