Arkansas Game And Fish Commission v. United States

133 S.Ct. 511 (2012)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

The Clearwater Dam (Dam) is located 115 miles upstream from the Management Area. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) constructed Clearwater Dam in 1948 and adopted a plan known as the Water Control Manual (Manual) to determine the rates at which water would be released from the Dam. The Manual sets seasonally varying release rates, but permits planned deviations from the prescribed rates for agricultural, recreational, and other purposes. Periodically from 1993 until 2000, the Corps authorized flooding that extended into the peak growing season for timber on forest land owned and managed by P. The repeated flooding damaged or destroyed more than 18 million board feet of timber and disrupted the ordinary use and enjoyment of P's property. These releases benefited farmers but interfered with P's tree-growing season. The record indicates that the decision to deviate from the Manual was made independently in each year and that the amount of deviation varied over the span of years. P objected to the temporary deviations and opposed any permanent revision to the Manual. Ultimately, the Corps tested the effect of the deviations on P. It thereupon abandoned the proposal to permanently revise the Manual and, in 2001, ceased its temporary deviations. P sued D for the destruction of timber and a substantial change in the character of the terrain, which necessitated costly reclamation measures. The Court of Federal Claims ruled in favor of P. The Court of Appeals reversed. It held that Government-induced flooding can give rise to a taking claim only if the flooding is “permanent or inevitably recurring.” The Supreme Court granted certiorari.