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United States Forest Service, et al. v. Cowpasture River Preservation Association, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 18-1144 · judgment December 13, 2018

Decided · June 15, 2020
Pre-decision estimate: 18% cert probability (95% interval 12%–26%)

Before the decision, about 4.3× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a federal-government petitioner, counsel who has won certiorari before, and a Fourth Circuit decision below.

Question presented

Consolidated with 18-1587. The Appalachian National Scenic Trail (Appalachian Trail) is more than 2000 miles long, extending from Maine to Georgia, with approximately 1000 miles of the Trail crossing through lands within national forests. The National Trails System Act provides that the Appalachian Trail "shall be administered primarily as a footpath by the Secretary of the Interior," 16 U.S.C. 1244(a)(l), and clarifies that "[n]othing contained in [the Act] shall be deemed to transfer among Federal agencies any management responsibilities established under any other law for federally administered lands," 16 U.S.C. 1246(a)(l)(A). Under the Mineral Leasing Act, 30 U.S.C. 181 et seq., the United States Forest Service (Forest Service) has authority to grant certain rights-of-way through lands in the National Forest System, but no federal agency has authority under that statute to grant equivalent rights-of-way through lands in the National Park System. See 30 U.S.C. 185. The question presented is: Whether the Forest Service has authority to grant rights-of-way under the Mineral Leasing Act through lands traversed by the Appalachian Trail within national forests.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Paul D. Clement
Clement & Murphy, PLLC

For respondent
Michael K. Kellogg
Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, P.L.L.C.

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Amicus briefs
4 cert-stage · 17 merits
(8 supporting pet./neither, 9 respondent)

Related
Vide, 18-1587

Argument & decision

Argued February 24, 2020 — Anthony A. Yang · Paul D. Clement · Michael K. Kellogg. Audio and transcript

Decided June 15, 2020. Opinion by Thomas.

Proceedings

  1. Jul 17 2020
    JUDGMENT ISSUED.
  2. Jun 15 2020
    Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Thomas, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Breyer, Alito Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh, JJ., joined, and in which Ginsburg, J., joined except as to Part III–B–2. Sotomayor, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Kagan, J., joined. VIDED.
  3. Feb 24 2020
    Argued. For petitioners in 18-1584: Anthony A. Yang, Assistant to the Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. For petitioner in 18-1587: Paul D. Clement, Washington, D. C. For respondents: Michael K. Kellogg, Washington, D. C. VIDED.
  4. Feb 14 2020
    Motion for divided argument filed by petitioner GRANTED. VIDED
  5. Feb 14 2020
    Reply of petitioners United States Forest Service, et al. filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
  6. Feb 14 2020
    Reply of petitioner Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC filed (in 18-1587). (Distributed)
  7. Jan 22 2020
    Brief amici curiae of Natural Resources Defense Council, the Wilderness Society, and Defenders of Wildlife filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
  8. Jan 22 2020
    Brief amici curiae of Wintergreen Property Owners Association, et al. filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
  9. Jan 22 2020
    Brief amici curiae of City of Staunton and Nelson County, Virginia filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
  10. Jan 22 2020
    Brief amici curiae of State of Vermont, et al. filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
  11. Jan 22 2020
    Brief amicus curiae of Commonwealth of Virginia filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
  12. Jan 22 2020
    Brief amicus curiae of The Rutherford Institute filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
  13. Jan 22 2020
    Brief amicus curiae of Citizens Equal Rights Foundation filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
  14. Jan 22 2020
    Motion for divided argument filed by petitioners United States Forest Service, et al. VIDED.
  15. Jan 21 2020
    CIRCULATED
  16. Jan 21 2020
    Brief amici curiae of Pamela Underhill, Jonathan B. Jarvis, Coalition to Protect America's National Parks, and National Parks Conservation Association filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
  17. Jan 21 2020
    The record of the USCA 4th Circuit is available on PACER. Additionally, record material from USCA 4th Circuit has been electronically received.
  18. Jan 17 2020
    Brief amicus curiae of Niskanen Center filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
  19. Jan 15 2020
    Brief of respondents Cowpasture River Preservation Association, et al. filed. VIDED.
  20. Jan 09 2020
    Record requested from the U.S.C.A. 4th Circuit.
  21. Dec 09 2019
    Amicus brief of National Association of Manufacturers, et al. not accepted for filing. (December 09, 2019). (Corrected efiling to be submitted).
  22. Dec 09 2019
    Brief amici curiae of National Association of Manufacturers, et al. filed (December 09, 2019). VIDED
  23. Dec 09 2019
    Brief amici curiae of United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of The United States and Canada, AFL-CIO, et al. filed. VIDED.
  24. Dec 09 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of Appalachian Trail Conservancy in support of neither party filed. VIDED.
  25. Dec 09 2019
    Brief amici curiae of State of West Virginia, et al. filed. VIDED.
  26. Dec 09 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC filed. VIDED.
  27. Dec 09 2019
    Brief amici curiae of Representative Jeff Duncan and Sixty-One Additional Members of the United States House of Representatives filed. VIDED.
  28. Dec 06 2019
    Amicus brief of American Forest Resource Council, et al. not accepted for filing. (December 09, 2019). (Corrected efiling submitted).
  29. Dec 06 2019
    Brief amici curiae of American Forest Resource Council, et al. filed. (December 09, 2019). VIDED.
  30. Dec 02 2019
    Brief of Federal Petitioners filed. VIDED.
  31. Dec 02 2019
    Joint appendix filed. (Statement of costs filed). VIDED.
  32. Dec 02 2019
    Brief of petitioner Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC filed. (in 18-1587)
  33. Nov 26 2019
    SET FOR ARGUMENT on Monday, February 24, 2020. VIDED.
  34. Nov 15 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file the briefs on the merits granted. The time to file the joint appendix and petitioners' briefs on the merits is extended to and including December 2, 2019. The time to file respondents' brief on the merits is extended to and including January 15, 2020. VIDED
  35. Nov 12 2019
    Motion for an extension of time filed. VIDED.
  36. Nov 05 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of Richard James Pierce Jr., in support of neither party filed. VIDED.
  37. Oct 17 2019
    Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC. VIDED.
  38. Oct 11 2019
    Blanket Consent filed by respondents, Cowpasture River Preservation Association, et al. VIDED.
  39. Oct 04 2019
    Petition GRANTED. The petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 18-1587 is granted. The cases are consolidated and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument.
  40. Oct 04 2019
    Because the Court has consolidated these cases for briefing and oral argument, future filings and activity in the cases will now be reflected on the docket of No. 18-1584. Subsequent filings in these cases must therefore be submitted through the electronic filing system in No. 18-1584. Each document submitted in connection with one or more of these cases must include on its cover the case number and caption for each case in which the filing is intended to be submitted. Where a filing is submitted in fewer than all of the cases, the docket entry will reflect the case number(s) in which the filing is submitted; a document filed in all of the consolidated cases will be noted as “VIDED.”
  41. Sep 12 2019
    Reply of petitioner United States Forest Service, et al. filed. (Distributed)
  42. Sep 11 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/1/2019.
  43. Sep 11 2019
    Reply of petitoner Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
  44. Aug 28 2019
    Brief of respondents Cowpasture River Preservation Association, et al. in opposition filed. VIDED.
  45. Jul 26 2019
    Brief amici curiae of National Association of Manufacturers, et al. filed. VIDED.
  46. Jul 26 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC filed. VIDED.
  47. Jul 26 2019
    Brief amici curiae of American Forest Resource Council et al filed. VIDED.
  48. Jul 25 2019
    Brief amici curiae of United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of The United States and Canada, AFL-CIO, et al. filed. VIDED.
  49. Jul 05 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including August 28, 2019 .
  50. Jul 01 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from July 26, 2019 to August 28, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
  51. Jun 25 2019
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due July 26, 2019)
  52. May 16 2019
    Application (18A1182) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until June 25, 2019.
  53. May 15 2019
    Application (18A1182) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from May 26, 2019 to June 25, 2019, submitted to The Chief Justice.
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