Humane Society of the United States v. Clark

109 F.R.D. 518, 3 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 423, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21102
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedApril 2, 1985
DocketCiv. A. No. 84-3630
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 109 F.R.D. 518 (Humane Society of the United States v. Clark) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Humane Society of the United States v. Clark, 109 F.R.D. 518, 3 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 423, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21102 (D.D.C. 1985).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

FLANNERY, District Judge.

This matter comes before the court on motions to intervene as defendants by the Wildlife Legislative Fund of America (“WLFA”), the National Rifle Association (“NRA”), and the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (“IAFWA”), and the federal defendants’ motion to stay discovery and for a more definite statement. Plaintiffs have opposed the motions to intervene by the WLFA and the NRA, but do not oppose participation by the IAF-WA as a defendant-intervenor under rule 24(b) insofar as this matter implicates the role of state authorities in administering hunting programs on National Wildlife Refuges. The federal defendants have stated that they do not take a position on the motions to intervene. For reasons discussed herein, the WLFA and the IAFWA will be granted permissive intervention, and the motion to intervene by the NRA will be denied. The court will order that all discovery be stayed until a full administrative record is filed. Finally, the federal defendants’ motion for a more definite statement will be denied without prejudice to refile it at a later date.

I. Background

On November 29, 1984, plaintiffs filed this action for injunctive and declaratory relief to redress the alleged violation of various federal statutes by defendants in connection with the management of National Wildlife Refuges. Plaintiffs contend that defendants unlawfully opened new refuges to hunting without completing the analysis required to insure that hunting is compatible with the purposes for which the individual refuges were created. The complaint also charges that defendants have unlawfully adopted new procedures that forego annual evaluations of the impact of sport hunting on refuges in which hunting is permitted, that defendants have unlawfully delegated administrative authority over refuges to the states, and that they unlawfully failed to prepare environmental impact statements regarding the effects of sport hunting on refuges, all in violation of a number of federal statutes, including the National Wildlife System Administration Act of 1966, 16 U.S.C. §§ 668, et seq., the Refuge Recreation Act of 1962, 16 U.S.C. §§ 460k, et seq., the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 et seq., the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4331, et seq., and the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 706, et seq.

II. Motions to Intervene

A. WLFA and NRA

The WLFA and the NRA have made almost identical arguments in their motions [520]*520to intervene as of right under rule 24(a)(2). Both groups are nonprofit organizations representing the interests of recreational hunting and trapping enthusiasts, and both participated in the rulemaking proceeding through which fifteen National Wildlife Refuges were recently opened to recreational hunting and sport fishing. Both groups seek to intervene in support of the federal defendants’ recent decisions to add twenty-eight National Wildlife Refuges to the lists of areas open to hunting and sport fishing.

The NRA and WLFA argue that they satisfy all of the requirements for intervention as of right. Under rule 24(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a timely application for nonstatutory intervention is to be granted

when the applicant claims an interest relating to the property or transaction which is the subject of the action and he is so situated that the disposition of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede his ability to protect that interest, unless the applicant's interest is adequately represented by existing parties.

To satisfy these requirements, a proposed intervenor must show that its application was timely, that it has an interest in the subject matter of the litigation, that it may be impeded in protecting that interest because of the action, and that its interest will not be adequately represented by existing parties. See, e.g., Nuesse v. Camp, 385 F.2d 694, 699 (D.C.Cir.1967). It appears uncontested that both motions are timely. The “interest” claimed by the two groups is the present right of their members to hunt and trap on public lands. Both groups contend that any disposition of this litigation which results in a loss of hunting rights in any federal wildlife refuge would impair that interest. Finally, they claim that their interest in upholding the present regulations will not be adequately represented by the federal defendants. Particularly if this matter is settled, they claim, the interests of their members will not be protected by the federal defendants.

In light of the liberal standards applied in this jurisdiction to the determination of whether a proposed intervenor has an interest in a case at all, it would be difficult to say that the WLFA and the NRA do not possess an interest in the outcome of plaintiffs’ challenge. See Environmental Defense Fund v. Costle, 79 F.R.D. 235, 243 (D.D.C.), aff'd, 12 E.R.C. 1255 (D.C.Cir.1978), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 1071, 99 S.Ct. 840, 59 L.Ed.2d 36 (1979). Nevertheless, these groups are not entitled to intervene as of right unless they can demonstrate that their interests may not be adequately represented by an existing party. See Trbovich v. United Mine Workers of America, 404 U.S. 528, 538 n. 10, 92 S.Ct. 630, 636 n. 10, 30 L.Ed.2d 686 (1972); Natural Resources Defense Council v. Costle, 561 F.2d 904, 911 (D.C.Cir.1977). Although this burden is “minimal,” see id., movants have failed to make any showing whatsoever that any difference exists between their interest and that of the government in seeing the challenged actions upheld.

The intervenor s’ primary argument regarding adequacy of representation is that the federal government is required by law to weigh and reconcile a number of competing interests in deciding whether and to what extent wildlife refuges should be open to sport hunting. Therefore, they argue, the federal defendants will not be able to argue for continued access to federal wildlife refuges with the same vigor as would the NRA and WLFA.

Movants’ contention that their interests may be inadequately represented due to the federal defendants’ obligation to “balance competing interests” in pursuing this litigation is not persuasive. In the context of this lawsuit, the federal defendants’ only interest is in upholding the regulations, not in redetermining whether those regulations properly weigh the competing interests of hunters and non-hunters.

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Bluebook (online)
109 F.R.D. 518, 3 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 423, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21102, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/humane-society-of-the-united-states-v-clark-dcd-1985.