Liberty
Matters News Service
April 28, 2005
Environmentalists Lose One
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled against an environmental group admonishing the organization for failing to present evidence to support their claim that Idaho rancher, Verl Jones's irrigation use was harming bull trout. The Idaho Watersheds Project sued the Jones family in 2001, charging they were violating the Endangered Species Act by using water from Otter Creek and killing protected bull trout. A federal District Court went along with the environmentalists and issued an injunction ordering Jones to stop using the water, even though the group had offered no evidence to support its claim. The case finally reached the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court, which overturned the District Court's decision and remanded it back to the lower court for trial. "The court said environmentalists have to prove their case, not just allege it," said Russ Brooks, managing attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF). "They can't get away with destroying people's lives on baseless allegations anymore," he continued. "This decision should give a lot of property owners hope where they have felt powerless against environmentalists' frivolous lawsuits for years. "It's been a long time coming, but the tide is turning and it's turning for the rights of property owners and reasonableness in environmental laws," Brooks added.
Alaska Tells U.N. to Bug Off
The Alaska Legislature has
approved a resolution opposing the United Nation's plan to designate parts of
western Alaska, eastern Russia, the Bering Sea and Glacier Bay National Park as
a marine biosphere known as "Beringia." Many of the designated sites include
private property. "Designated land could block commercial activity, including
pipelines, highways, railroads and power transmission lines," said Jennifer
Baxter, an aide to Rep. Jim Elkins, author of the resolution. The resolution
states in part; "Animal rights activists could use these international
designations to generate pressure to harass or block harvesting of marine
mammals by Alaska Natives or the commercial harvest of fisheries." The
resolution was presented to the Senate Resources Committee, which approved it
without debate. "It always disturbs me when we see an organization like the U.
N. that can't even take care of their own internal affairs want to take care of
everybody else's," said committee chairman Tom Wagoner.
Beringia
Destination
Two Weeks to Southwest Landowners Conference
The Southwest Landowner Conference is only
two weeks away - make your plans to attend today. Go to
www.stewards.us and click on the
Southwest Landowner Conference link to see the program and register. You don't
want to miss this one!
Klamath Farmers Seek Compensation
Farmers who were left high and dry in 2001 are seeking compensation for the losses they incurred when the government took their irrigation water to benefit coho salmon and a couple of sucker fish. A government attorney argued, during the hearing before U. S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Francis M. Allegra, that irrigation districts don't have property rights that allow compensation if they don't get as much water as they're supposed to. "There is simply no state law-based water right that has attributes of property rights," said Justice Department lawyer, Kristine Tardiff. Roger Marzulla, who represents the water districts, disagreed, saying legal precedent "has squarely held that the plaintiffs hold a property right." "There is as of today no water right for fish," under Oregon law, he said. The hearing is a first step in deciding if the two dozen Klamath Basin irrigators and property owners will get the $100 million they say they are owed for the water diversion that forced some farmers off their land when they couldn't make enough money to pay their mortgages. A similar case was settled in December when the government agreed to pay four California water districts $16.7 million when their water was taken to help fish. If damage payments must be made to those harmed when their water is taken to protect species, environmentalists fear it could undermine the Endangered Species Act by making it too expensive to uphold.
Forest Service Accused of Chicanery
The U.S. Forest Service is being sued for
$2.5 million by a man who alleges the Service shut down bridges to his
property, thereby preventing him from managing his wilderness lodge. Jeff
Mummery is the managing partner of The Sweetwater, an LLC formed to purchase
property for the lodge in 1995. Mummery's attorney, Kevin Garden, said the
issue is whether the Service committed a breach of contract. Garden indicated
things look promising for his client because Senior Judge James Merow of the U.
S. Court of Federal Claims recently forwarded the case for trial and is a
precedent with positive implications for other forest lodge owners/permittees.
"He's [Judge Merow] saying this (recreational permit) is a contract," Garden
said. Mummery's suit claims evidence shows the Forest Service had inspected the
bridges in 1992 and deemed them unsafe, but didn't divulge the information to
Mummery. Furthermore, the Forest Service sought and received funds to repair
the bridges, but sent it back to the regional office. The Service chose not to
fix the bridges because it hoped to get a 'conservation buyer' who would tear
down the buildings and abandon the lodge, Garden told reporters. "I've lost
years of revenue," Mummery said. "I'm out eight or nine years of business."
Forest
Service