About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

5 Nat. Resources L. Newsl. 1 (1972)

handle is hein.journals/trends5 and id is 1 raw text is: MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN The Natural Resources Law Section has become increasingly active over the past several years. We believe the organized Bar has an obligation to the public to take positions on legal matters of major concern to our country. The Section had three substantive resolutions before the House of Delegates at its Annual Meeting in New York. One resolution pertained to the Public Land Law Review Commission's Report, one on the Recommendation of the President's Advisory Council on Executive Reorganization concerning the Federal Power Commission, and one on federal reservations of water rights. The first two resolutions were adopted, and the third was deferred to the Mid-year Meeting. The Council of the Natural Resources Law Section adopted a resolution on citizens' suits at its Annual Meeting. This resolution is now circulating among the sections and committees of the ABA, and will be presented to the House of Delegates at its Mid-year Meeting. The Public Lands Committee of our Section is now coordinating work on a resolution dealing with the proposed Department of Natural Resources. The Marine Resources Committee is preparing a resolution on the President's proposal concerning resources under the continental shelf and abyssal sea. These resolutions should be ready for consideration by the Council of the Section at the Mid-year Meeting, and, if approved by the Council, would be presented to the House of Delegates at its Annual Meeting in San Francisco. We also believe the Section has an obligation to serve the profession in the natural resources law field. The Natural Resources Lawyer, published quarterly and now completing its fourth year, is a highly regarded law review type journal, carrying articles and other material of special interest to attorneys practicing in the natural resources field. This Newsletter, also published quarterly, is used to communicate matters of current interest to our members. We have held four National Institutes, the most recent one in October on the Law of the Environment. These activities do not happen by accident. They require hard work, and most of it is generated through our substantive committees. These committees need your help. If you are not already serving and would like to do so, I would urge you to complete the form provided in this Newsletter, showing your committee preferences. J. P. Hammond, Chairman RECENT DECISIONS The early fall of 1971 saw two judicial decisions of significance to the future development of our nation's timber resources. The first of the-e, Parker v. United States, 3 ERC 1134, handed down by the United States Court of Appeals for the 1Oth Circuit on October 1, 1971, concerns the application and effect of Section 3(b) of the Wilderness Act of 1964, 16 U.S.C. Section 1132(b) to National Forest Lands contiguous to primitive or wilderness areas. Section 3(b) of the Wilderness Act prescribed a procedure by which the Secretary of Agriculture would study and report to the President, and the President would recommend to the Congress, which areas then classified as primitive should be preserved as wilderness, and further provided: Nothing herein contained shall limit the President in proposing, as part of his recommendations to Congress, the alteration of existing boundaries of primitive areas or recommending the addition of any contiguous area of national forest lands predominantly of wilderness value. The characteristics of a wilderness were defined by statute. 16 U.S.C. Section 1131(c). As many Newsletter readers know, Parker arose from a decision by the United States Forest Service to conduct a timber sale in lands contiguous to the Gore Range-Eagles Nest Primitive Area in the White River National Forest in Colorado. Upon protest an original sale designation, which covered an area bordering the primitive area, was cancelled, and a new sale ordered covering a lesser timber volume to be taken from an area near, but not contiguous to the primitive area. In each case the Forest Service had made a determination that the area to be included in the sale was not one which should be included within a wilderness area by the Congress upon the completion of the review ordered by Section 3(b) of the Wilderness Act. The second sale was auctioned, whereupon the Sierra Club and others brought suit in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado to enjoin performance of the sale contract. After hearing, the trial court granted the relief sought, in a judgment determining as a fact that the contract pertains to an area that is both predominantly of wilderness value and contiguous to a primitive area, enjoining the sale and harvest of timber in that area pending determination by the President and the Congress regarding the area's inclusion in a wilderness area, and requiring that the area of the sale be included by the Secretary of Agriculture in the suitability

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most