Fadem v. United States

13 Cl. Ct. 328, 1987 U.S. Claims LEXIS 167
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedSeptember 28, 1987
DocketNo. 323-82L
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 13 Cl. Ct. 328 (Fadem v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fadem v. United States, 13 Cl. Ct. 328, 1987 U.S. Claims LEXIS 167 (cc 1987).

Opinion

ORDER

YOCK, Judge.

This inverse condemnation case is currently before the Court on the defendant’s Motion to Dismiss/Stay Proceedings. The defendant’s motion seeks: (1) to dismiss without prejudice Counts I and II of the complaint, or in the alternative to stay proceedings in those counts until the plaintiffs’ administrative claim filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) has been decided by the Department of the Interior; (2) to dismiss, or in the alternative to stay, Count IV of the complaint (border dispute/resurvey issues) until the plaintiffs’ later-filed District Court actions involving the same issues have been decided; and (3) to dismiss the plaintiffs’ personal injury claims contained in Count III of the complaint for lack of jurisdiction. As to all three mat[329]*329ters, the defendant's motion is granted as discussed herein.

Facts

Plaintiffs, Robert S. and Mary 0. Fadem, are the sole partners of plaintiff Rough Acres Ranch Partnership. Plaintiff Lark Valley Dude Ranch Partnership owns an interest in certain improvements on Rough Acres Ranch.

Rough Acres Ranch is composed of four parcels of land totaling some 1,720 acres, and situated in the McCain Valley, San Diego County, California. Each parcel is either bordered or surrounded by land owned by the United States. The Government-owned land is managed by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and used as a recreational and wildlife area.

From 1956 to 1965, the Fadems, along with' other owners, improved the ranch property, adding farm and ranch buildings, an air strip, drilling wells, and building a dude ranch resort complete with a dining and gathering building and 29 cottages. Other portions of the land were used for growing feed, fodder and grazing beef cattle. The agricultural aspects of the ranch, as well as the scenic and unpopulated surroundings, were calculated to draw guests to the resort. The plaintiffs invested large amounts of time and money in developing Rough Acres Ranch in alleged reliance on assurances made by various BLM officials that the BLM intended to maintain and carefully develop its property for traditional recreational purposes.

In 1965, the Fadems became the sole owners of the ranch property. Lark Valley Dude Ranch partnership retained, however, an ownership interest in the building improvements on the property.

On August 17, 1961, the Government’s 38,692 acre tract of land surrounding and adjoining the Rough Acres Ranch officially became known as the McCain Valley National Cooperative Land and Wildlife Management Area. In 1963, the area was designated by the BLM as the McCain Valley Resource Conservation Area. In the fall of 1964, the McCain Valley Hunting Access Project was instituted, and in 1964 and 1965, the United States constructed the McCain Valley Road extension to provide increased public access to the McCain Valley area. The road extension was designed to pass by and to the north of the plaintiffs’ property. At the same time, the defendant constructed three public campgrounds in the McCain Valley Area, including the Lark Canyon Campground directly to the north of the plaintiffs’ ranch buildings. The general intent of this development was to encourage traditional camping and recreational activity in the primitive setting of McCain Valley.

Thereafter, public use of the area increased dramatically. A portion of the increased activity in the McCain Valley was related to the use of off-road vehicles (ORVs).

In 1977, Executive Order 11989 was issued requiring federal agencies, including the BLM, to “immediately close” areas or trails whenever it was determined that “use of off-road vehicles will cause or is causing considerable adverse effects on the soil, vegetation, wildlife, wildlife habitat or cultural or historic resources of particular areas or trails of the public lands * * In response, the BLM drafted and adopted the Wildlife Habitat Management Plan of 1979 and the McCain Valley Resource Conservation Area Recreation Activity Management Plan of 1979.

The plaintiffs contend that the implementation of this plan resulted in the closing of the land east of the McCain Valley Road extension to ORV use. The plaintiffs allege further that the closing of this portion of the McCain Valley resulted in the shifting of ORV activities to the west side of the McCain Valley Road, which is immediately adjacent to the north section of the plaintiffs’ ranch. As a result, the plaintiffs argue that the increased ORV activity next to their property and the Government’s failure to adequately control and supervise this activity has accelerated erosion on the Government’s property which, in turn, has altered the surface water flow, thereby causing severe erosion of the plaintiffs’ property. In addition, the plaintiffs assert [330]*330that large amounts of dust began to blow across their ranch and that noise from the ORVs rose to offensive levels. Also, the plaintiffs allege that the increased ORV activity caused their reservoir to fill with silt and sediment, thereby rendering the ranch’s water supply unusable.

On November 27, 1981, the plaintiffs filed with the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) an administrative claim pursuant to the authority contained in the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671-2680. In that claim, the plaintiffs requested damages in tort for negligent road construction and maintenance and for inadequate and negligent supervision and control of the Lark Canyon Off Road Vehicle (ORV) Playground. The plaintiffs complained of soil erosion, noise pollution, and mental and emotional distress. The plaintiffs requested property damages in the amount of $442,800 and personal injury damages in the amount of $5 million.

Some eight months after the plaintiffs had filed their administrative tort claim with the BLM, the plaintiffs, on July 6, 1982, filed their complaint in the United States Court of Claims (now United States Claims Court) alleging a taking of their property through a series of tortious actions by agents and employees of the Government (BLM). As initially filed, the complaint contained three counts. Count I alleged a taking of their entire ranch containing some 1,720 acres. Count II alleged a taking of only part of their property containing some 600 acres. Count III alleged that the activities taking place on the BLM land surrounding their property amounted to a nuisance which caused mental distress and emotional injury to their persons. In the complaint, the plaintiffs asserted that the Government negligently built and maintained the McCain Valley Road which caused both erosion to and deposits of sediment on their land. In addition, the plaintiffs allege that the Government failed to supervise and control the recreational use (ORV use) of the adjacent land. They assert that the Government, through negligence and lack of supervision, has altered the surface water flow on their ranch, polluted the plaintiffs’ water supply, caused dust to flow over the plaintiffs’ property, reduced the variety and number of wildlife in the area, and generally and substantially interfered with the plaintiffs’ quiet enjoyment of their ranch property. The plaintiffs’ requested damages under Count I in the amount of $40 million for their ranch; Count II in the alternative requests $30 million; and Count III requested $35 million for emotional distress and related personal injuries.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
13 Cl. Ct. 328, 1987 U.S. Claims LEXIS 167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fadem-v-united-states-cc-1987.