New Mexico Federal Lands Council News

NEW MEXICO FEDERAL LANDS NEWS

by Frank Dubois

Wolves Kill, Permits, USDA Hacked & VR For Cows

The following is my interpretation of a recent court decision involving a rancher and the death of a wolf. It may not be what I think is right or fair, but it is, I believe, an accurate report on what the decision says.

The rancher, who has a grazing allotment that encompasses both the Gila and the Apache Greaves National Forests, pled guilty to having “knowingly taken” a Mexican gray wolf. He was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation and paid $2,300 in restitution.

The Forest Service then canceled the rancher’s grazing permit. This decision was unsuccessfully appealed.

Having exhausted his administrative remedies, the rancher then filed suit claiming the decision was issued in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. This suit was eventually dropped.

I’m leaving out a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo about changing counsels, briefs and response to briefs, providing adequate notice, etc.

Eventually, two suits were combined. One where the rancher sues the Forest Service and the other where the Forest Service sues the rancher.

The rancher filed suit seeking quiet title to the allotment, requesting the Court declare that “under the Quiet Title Act” the ranching entity “is the surface owner” of the allotment “by operation of specific legislative grants of Congress.”

The following, straight from the Courts decision, summarizes the claims this way:

“…Plaintiffs allege that the Allotment is their “private real property”—i.e., that they “hold legal and valid title” to it as “surface estate fee-title owner[s]” who may “fully utilize the value of the land” for “all agricultural and ranching purposes.” Plaintiffs further allege that such “vested property rights” are “valid existing rights that predated the Gila National Forest.” (emphasis added). The Complaint then implies that, as preexisting private property, the Allotment never became national forest land—or did so only to a limited extent (e.g., only as to its subsurface mineral rights). Instead, Plaintiffs allege that—from the late 1800s until today—the surface of the Allotment has remained private property and continually carried with it “valid existing rights” for its owners to use that surface for any ranching or agricultural endeavor, including the grazing of livestock.”

Finally, we’ll see these ideas and legal concepts presented in Court, laid out for everyone to see. It will also be the opportunity to see the federales’ response to each of the allegations. It will be both educational and fun to see how this plays out. Except for one thing: the government never responded.

Instead, the feds filed a separate lawsuit seeking a “writ of ejectment” to have the livestock removed, and the real kicker here, they filed a Motion to Dismiss the quiet title suit. Why? Because the Quiet Title Act contains a statute of limitations consisting of

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