SUWA ruling struck down
Justices say it would make fed judges land managers
The strongly worded decision came less than three months after attorneys representing the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management argued the case before the high court.
Even then, justices expressed concern that allowing the organizations to sue the government could open the door to more court involvement in the management of federal agencies.
Monday's ruling, written by Justice Antonin Scalia, made it clear federal law "does not contemplate such pervasive federal-court oversight" that would put courts in charge of sorting out "abstract policy disagreements which courts lack the expertise and information to resolve."
Scalia wrote that if the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in 2002 for SUWA were allowed to stand, it would have improperly made federal judges the managers of public lands instead of the Interior Department.
The ruling was a blow to SUWA, which in 1999 sought to shut down off-road vehicle access to nine areas, including the San Rafael Swell and Wild Horse Mesa near Capitol Reef National Monument and the Coral Pink San Dunes.
Off-road vehicle enthusiasts, though, had reason to celebrate. "Obviously, we're delighted," said Brian Hawthorne, public lands director for the BlueRibbon Coalition in Pocatello, Idaho. The coalition had joined the BLM in challenging the appeals court ruling.
Still, Hawthorne said, off-roaders need to realize Monday's decision doesn't mean there's going to be new trails in the areas under study. "They're still likely to see a lot of closures in the future," he said. "It's not open season by any means."
The Interior Department announced it was pleased that the court "upheld the principle that the federal resources managers may use their expertise to make day-to-day management decisions without unnecessary litigation."
SUWA and other environmental groups initially sued, saying the BLM ignored its own land-use plans and other rules prohibiting off-road vehicle damage on public Utah lands that are under consideration for designation as wilderness.
The high court, however, unanimously rejected all three claims upon which SUWA built its case — even though a divided panel of the appeals court in Denver had sided with SUWA, overturning a decision in 2000 by U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball in Utah.
The environmental groups' first claim was that the BLM violated its mandate to maintain study areas in a way so as not to impair their suitability for designation as permanent wilderness areas. They sued under the Administrative Procedure Act to compel such action.
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