Buse Timber & Sales, Inc. v. United States

45 Fed. Cl. 258, 30 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20185, 1999 U.S. Claims LEXIS 265, 1999 WL 1007248
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedNovember 4, 1999
DocketNo. 98-725 C
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 45 Fed. Cl. 258 (Buse Timber & Sales, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Buse Timber & Sales, Inc. v. United States, 45 Fed. Cl. 258, 30 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20185, 1999 U.S. Claims LEXIS 265, 1999 WL 1007248 (uscfc 1999).

Opinion

ORDER

MOODY R. TIDWELL, III, Senior Judge.

In this government contract action, plaintiff, Buse Timber & Sales, Inc., seeks to recover damages it incurred under a contract entered into with the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service for the sale and harvest of timber located in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington State. Plaintiff has asserted claims for breach of contract and a violation of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This case is currently before the court on defendant’s motions to dismiss (1) the takings claim for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted and (2) the breach of contract claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Defendant first argues that plaintiff has failed to state a Fifth Amendment takings claim because interference with contractual rights results in a contract, rather than a takings, claim. Defendant also argues that this court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the breach of contract claims because the contracting officer lacked authority under the Contract Disputes Act (CDA) of 1978, § 6(a), 41 U.S.C. § 605(a) (1994), to issue a final decision on those claims. Oral argument was held on October 12, 1999. For the reasons set forth below, the court grants defendant’s motion to dismiss the takings claim. With respect to plaintiffs breach of contract claims, defendant’s motion to dismiss is denied.

BACKGROUND

This case concerns the Clear Creek timber sale contract made between plaintiff, Buse Timber & Sales, Inc. (Buse Timber), and defendant, the United States, acting through the United States Department of Agriculture, United States Forest Service (Forest Service), for the sale and harvest of timber located in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington State. The contract was authorized by Section 318 of the Department of the Interior Appropriations Act of 1990, Pub.L. No. 101-121, 103 Stat. 701, 745-750 (1989). On August 29, 1990, Buse Timber and the Forest Service entered into a contract which called for the Forest Service to sell and permit Buse Timber to cut, remove, and pay for a total estimated volume of 3,400 board feet of net merchantable timber in a elearcut unit in the Clear Creek sale area. The normal operating season for the Clear Creek sale was April 15 to October 15. Buse Timber planned to harvest the timber in the fall of 1992. To meet this objective, Buse Timber made initial preparations during the summer and fall of 1991.

Despite the Forest Service’s award of the contract, the Forest Service suspended Buse Timber’s performance under the contract on July 20, 1992, before timber harvesting had begun. The Forest Service’s decision to suspend timber falling was prompted by the detection of a small, robinsized seabird known as the “marbled murrelet” in the sale area. Initially, timber harvesting was suspended until surveying of the area was complete and a biological evaluation could be prepared. On August 19, 1992, the Forest Service informed Buse Timber that the restriction would remain in place through September 15, 1992. On September 16, 1992, Buse Timber began harvesting operations. However, that same day a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) was issued prohibiting the Forest Service from harvesting timber for 10 days in the marbled murrelet’s habitat, including the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie Forest. Marbled Murrelet v. Lujan, No. C91-522R (W.D.Wash. Sept. 16, 1992).1 On September 17,1992, the Forest Service again suspended [261]*261Buse Timber’s operations on the Clear Creek timber sale. Although the TRO expired on its own terms on September 26, 1992, the Forest Service voluntarily continued the suspension until September 29, 1992. As part of a settlement agreement, the Forest Service promised that in the event the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) decided to list the marbled murrelet as a threatened species, the Forest Service would not fell any trees until it had made a determination as to whether or not the felling of the trees would affect the marbled murrelet. On September 28, 1992, pursuant to the Endangered Species Act, Pub.L. No. 93-205, 87 Stat. 884 (1973), the FWS listed the marbled murrelet as a threatened species in California, Oregon, and Washington. As a result, all harvesting operations on the Clear Creek sale were suspended indefinitely.2

On September 10, 1998, pursuant to the CDA, Buse Timber submitted a certified claim in the amount of $6,290,485.353 to the contracting officer (CO) alleging improper suspension of operations and misrepresentations in the contract. Plaintiffs claim for damages included lost market opportunity, increased costs of financing, unamortized road construction costs, bonding costs, and lost interest on deposits. On September 16, 1998, Buse Timber also filed suit in this court alleging that the Forest Service’s conduct in suspending the contract was a Fifth Amendment taking of its contract rights without just compensation. The CO issued a final decision on November 9, 1998, denying all but $3552.00 of Buse Timber’s claim.4 Buse Timber filed an amended complaint on February 22, 1999, restating the Fifth Amendment takings claim and challenging the contracting officer’s final decision denying the majority of its claims. Buse Timber alleges breach of contract on the grounds of misrepresentation, unreasonable suspension of the contract, and uncompensated suspension of the contract. Plaintiff is seeking a judgment against the United States in the amount of $6,290,485.35.

DISCUSSION

Plaintiff in this case has advanced two theories of recovery—an unconstitutional taking in Count I and breach of contract in Counts II, III, and IV. Plaintiff alleges that by suspending timber harvesting operations, the government has effected a taking of plaintiffs rights under the contract to cut, remove, and pay for timber in the Clear Creek sale area for which plaintiff is entitled to just compensation. Defendant moved to dismiss Count I, the takings claim, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(4) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (RCFC) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Defendant argues that this claim should be dismissed on the ground that interference with contractual rights amounts to a contract, rather than a takings, claim. Plaintiff also argues that defendant breached the contract on the grounds of misrepresentation, unreasonable suspension of the contract, and uncompensated suspension of the contract. Defendant moved to dismiss Counts II, III, and IV, the breach of contract claims, pursuant to RCFC 12(b)(1) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, contending that the contracting officer lacked authority to consider plaintiffs claim because plaintiff initiated litigation in this court prior to receiving a final decision from the contracting officer.

I. Failure to State a Claim Upon Which Relief Can be Granted

The Supreme Court set forth the standard for evaluating motions to dismiss for failure [262]*262to state a claim in Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). Conley provides that “a complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of [its] claim which would entitle [it] to relief.”

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Bluebook (online)
45 Fed. Cl. 258, 30 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20185, 1999 U.S. Claims LEXIS 265, 1999 WL 1007248, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/buse-timber-sales-inc-v-united-states-uscfc-1999.