Thomas Creek Lumber & Log Co. v. United States

36 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,827, 19 Cl. Ct. 710, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 51, 1990 WL 28191
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedMarch 16, 1990
DocketNo. 623-87C
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 36 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,827 (Thomas Creek Lumber & Log Co. 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
Thomas Creek Lumber & Log Co. v. United States, 36 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,827, 19 Cl. Ct. 710, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 51, 1990 WL 28191 (cc 1990).

Opinion

OPINION and ORDER

ANDEWELT, Judge.

In this government contract action, plaintiff, Thomas Creek Lumber & Log Co. (Thomas Creek), seeks damages relating to a timber sale contract (No. 0R080-TS6-007) it entered with the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Defendant filed a counterclaim seeking damages under the same contract. .This action is presently before the court on defendant’s motion for summary judgment. For the reasons set forth herein, summary judgment is appropriate on the issue of liability but not on the issue of damages.

[711]*711I.

In its contract with BLM, plaintiff agreed to pay $169,435.30 for timber located in a specified area of Linn County, Oregon (the Weeping Wapiti site). The contract obliged plaintiff to obtain BLM’s approval of a written operations and logging plan prior to “the commencement of operations” (Section 41(h)). In addition, because of concern about damage to the property during wet soil conditions, the contract prohibited the yarding of timber “between October 15 of one calendar year and July 1 of the following calendar year” (Section 41(d)).

On February 25, 1987, the contracting officer rejected a request by Brent Walker, president of Thomas Creek, to commence logging operations outside of the seasonal restrictions imposed in Section 41(d) of the contract. Despite the contracting officer’s rejection of its request, and although no logging plan previously had been approved, on March 2,1987, plaintiff began to remove a volume of timber from the Weeping Wapiti site. In response, on that same day, BLM hand-delivered a suspension order to Mr. Walker. However, Mr. Walker instructed his contract logger to ignore the suspension order and to continue logging operations. On March 10, 1987, shortly after a meeting between the parties, plaintiff suspended its operations.

On June 8, 1987, the contracting officer issued a final decision to the effect that plaintiff was liable for $43,347.11 in damages as a result of its violation of the suspension order. The contracting officer calculated the amount of damages due by trebling the fair market value of the timber removed during the suspension period ($13,558.37) and then adding $2,672.50 in related expenses incurred by BLM. On or about July 8, 1987, plaintiff paid defendant $7,129.59 in damages. Plaintiff then filed suit in this court contesting the contracting officer’s decision. Defendant filed a counterclaim seeking the balance of alleged damages due ($36,217.52), plus statutory interest.

In its motion for summary judgment, defendant contends that the suspension order was proper under the terms of the contract and that even if it was not, plaintiff was obliged to obey the suspension order until it was rescinded. With respect to damages, defendant contends that it was appropriate for the contracting officer to calculate damages based on the fair market value of the timber at the time it was removed. In its response, plaintiff disputes that the suspension order was warranted, contends that it was not obliged to obey an unwarranted suspension order, and alleges that, in any event, the contract price for the timber, and not the fair market value, should be used in assessing damages.

II.

The issue of whether the suspension order was proper appears to turn on whether the timber plaintiff cut and removed from the Weeping Wapiti site on March 2, 1987, was classifiable as “right-of-way” timber. Defendant agrees with plaintiff that there is no provision in the contract that prohibited plaintiff from removing “right-of-way” timber on March 2.

Defendant presents extensive evidence to support its contention that the timber plaintiff cut and removed on March 2 was not necessary to secure any “right-of-way” for harvesting and therefore was removed in violation of contract requirements. In response, plaintiff relies primarily on an affidavit by Mr. Walker in which he states that all of the timber cut and removed prior to and during the suspension period was “right-of-way” timber. Mr. Walker acknowledges that extensive amounts of “right-of-way” timber were removed prior to March 2, but contends that additional “right-of-way” timber remained on the site. He contends that Thomas Creek was going to use a yarder with a 100-foot tube to harvest timber under the contract and that additional “right-of-way” timber had to be removed from the site to make room for transporting the tube.

Defendant’s evidence as to the proper classification of the timber in question appears somewhat more persuasive than plaintiff’s. But when considering a sum[712]*712mary judgment motion, it is not the role of a court to weigh the evidence and resolve such factual disputes. Rather, a court’s role is limited to determining whether a genuine dispute exists as to a material fact. If such a dispute does exist, a motion for summary judgment must be denied. RUSCC 56(c); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-49, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2509-11, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Herein, significant evidence has been presented on both sides, and there is a dispute as to whether the timber removed on March 2 was “right-of-way” timber. In view of this factual dispute, the court cannot determine on summary judgment whether the suspension was authorized under the terms of the contract. Therefore, if the correctness of the suspension is material to resolution of the merits of this case, summary judgment would not lie.

III.

Defendant contends that, in any event, the correctness of the suspension order is not material to its summary judgment motion because plaintiff is obliged to follow the terms of the suspension order even if the order was unwarranted. Defendant is correct. The cutting and removal of timber in violation of a suspension order is covered under Section 10(b) of the contract, which provides, in pertinent part: “If Purchaser cuts or removes any timber sold under this contract during any period of suspension, such cutting or removal shall be considered a wilful trespass and render Purchaser liable for damages under applicable law.” Thus, Section 10(b) imposes potential damage liability for any cutting or removal of timber sold under the contract during a suspension period. There is no requirement that the suspension order be correctly issued.

Plaintiff does not dispute that its conduct falls within the literal scope of the prohibition in Section 10(b), i.e., that it removed timber sold under the contract during a suspension period. Rather, plaintiff contends, in effect, that the Section 10(b) prohibition should not be interpreted literally. First, plaintiff contends that since it previously had paid for the “right-of-way” timber removed during the suspension period, it owned the timber and was therefore entitled to remove it. However, Section 7 of the contract provides that title to timber sold under the contract does not pass until such timber “has been paid for and removed from the contract area.” (Emphasis added.) Since the timber involved herein had not been removed from the contract area prior to the suspension order, title remained with BLM and plaintiff’s removal of the timber during the suspension period was in violation of Section 10(b).

Next, plaintiff contends that Sections 3(c) and 3(d) of the contract support its right to remove the timber notwithstanding the prohibition in Section 10(b).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
36 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,827, 19 Cl. Ct. 710, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 51, 1990 WL 28191, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thomas-creek-lumber-log-co-v-united-states-cc-1990.