Cascadia Wildlands v. Or. Dep't of State Lands

427 P.3d 1091, 293 Or. App. 127
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedAugust 1, 2018
DocketA159061
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 427 P.3d 1091 (Cascadia Wildlands v. Or. Dep't of State Lands) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cascadia Wildlands v. Or. Dep't of State Lands, 427 P.3d 1091, 293 Or. App. 127 (Or. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

ARMSTRONG, P.J.

*129Petitioners appeal a judgment of the circuit court that dismissed their petition for judicial review of a final order of the Oregon Department of State Lands (ODSL) to sell the "East Hakki Ridge parcel," which is part of the Elliot State Forest, to intervenor Seneca Jones Timber Company (Seneca *1094Jones). Petitioners sought a declaration that ODSL was required by ORS 530.450 to withdraw the East Hakki Ridge parcel from sale and an injunction preventing or setting aside the sale. The circuit court concluded that petitioners lacked standing to challenge ODSL's order, and, accordingly, it dismissed the petition without reaching the merits of petitioners' challenge.

On appeal, in addition to arguing that they have standing, petitioners argue that we should reach the merits of their challenge, which is that ODSL violated ORS 530.450 when it sold part of the Elliot State Forest to Seneca Jones. ODSL and Seneca Jones respond that petitioners lack standing and that, even if petitioners have standing, ODSL's decision should be affirmed because ORS 530.450 violates the Oregon Constitution and, hence, is void. We conclude that petitioners have standing to bring their challenge and that we should reach the merits of petitioners' challenge under the circumstances of this case. As to the merits, we conclude that ORS 530.450 is constitutional and that ODSL violated that statute when it sold the East Hakki Ridge parcel to Seneca Jones. Accordingly, we reverse and remand the judgment of the circuit court.

The relevant facts are undisputed. When Oregon was admitted into the union on February 14, 1859, the United States agreed to transfer certain federal land to Oregon for support of Oregon schools. See State of Or. By and Through Div. of State Lands v. Bureau of Land Management , 876 F.2d 1419, 1421 (9th Cir. 1989) (explaining that Oregon Admission Act, 11 Stat 383, section 4, created an obligation on the United States to grant to Oregon sections 16 and 32 of every township in Oregon for use of schools). Because the designated lands were not all available to be conveyed to Oregon at statehood, Congress enacted statutes that authorized states to select other federal public land in lieu of *130unavailable sections. Id. The land that the United States granted to Oregon is referred to as the "common school lands."

Pursuant to a 1927 presidential proclamation, Oregon received a large tract of common school lands from the United States in lieu of designated lands that were not available to be conveyed to Oregon at statehood. Oregon obtained the lands through written instruments called "clear lists." Id. at 1423. " 'A clear list is a government list of lands, title to which has been cleared to a party. It transfers title as effectively as a patent.' " Id . at 1423 n. 3 (quoting Oregon v. Bureau of Land Management , 676 F.Supp. 1047, 1055 (D. Or. 1987) ). The United States approved the clear lists, transferring title to the "in-lieu land" to Oregon. Id. at 1423.

What is now called the Elliot State Forest was created when Oregon received those in-lieu lands from the United States. Thus, the Elliot State Forest is part of the common school lands that the State Land Board is directed by the Oregon Constitution to manage for the benefit of the people of Oregon. See Or. Const., Art. VIII, §§ 2, 5. ODSL is the administrative arm of the State Land Board.

The East Hakki Ridge parcel is within the Elliot State Forest and is made up of 788 acres, over four tax lots, that are part of the common school lands. Oregon acquired one of the tax lots from a private party in 1983. Oregon selected the remaining three tax lots as part of the lands that it acquired from the United States as in-lieu land. In 2013, the cost of managing the Elliot State Forest exceeded the revenue generated by timber sales within the forest. Because of the net loss to the common school fund, the State Land Board approved offering the East Hakki Ridge parcel for sale. Seneca Jones bought the East Hakki Ridge parcel through a sealed-bid auction, and the sale was memorialized in a purchase and sale agreement (PSA) on April 15, 2014.

Petitioners petitioned for review in the circuit court of ODSL's decision to sell the East Hakki Ridge parcel, identifying the signed PSA as the final agency order that they were challenging. After a hearing on the petition based on *131stipulated evidence, the circuit court concluded that petitioners did not have standing to challenge the sale and entered a judgment dismissing their petition *1095for judicial review.1 Petitioners appeal that judgment.

To seek judicial review, a petitioner must have "standing" to do that. " 'Standing' is a legal term that identifies whether a party to a legal proceeding possesses a status or qualification necessary for the assertion, enforcement, or adjudication of legal rights or duties." Kellas v. Dept. of Corrections , 341 Or. 471, 476-77, 145 P.3d 139 (2006). "The source of law that determines that question is the statute that confers standing in the particular proceeding that the party has initiated, 'because standing is not a matter of common law but is, instead, conferred by the legislature.' " Id. at 477, 145 P.3d 139 (quoting Local No. 290 v. Dept. of Environ. Quality

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
427 P.3d 1091, 293 Or. App. 127, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cascadia-wildlands-v-or-dept-of-state-lands-orctapp-2018.