Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
American Forest Resource Council, et al. v. United States, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, No. 20-5008, 20-5009, 20-5010, 20-5011, 22-5019, 22-5020, 22-5021 · judgment July 18, 2023
Before the decision, about 5.8× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a D.C. Circuit decision below, and a circuit split argued in the petition.
Question presented
In 1937, Congress passed the Oregon and California Railroad and Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant Lands Act of 1937 (O&C Act), which set aside nearly 2.6 million acres of Oregon forestland as a permanent trust for local governments to fund public services. Congress mandated that these timberlands “shall” be managed for “permanent forest production” and that timber thereon be cut and sold under “the princip[le] of sustained yield” to generate revenue for the affected counties. 43 U.S.C. §§ 2601, 2605. Despite this clear congressional mandate, the President used the Antiquities Act of 1906 to add tens of thousands of O&C timberland acres into a national monument where sustained-yield timber harvest is prohibited. Similarly, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued management plans for the entirety of the O&C forestlands that dedicated 80% of the O&C lands to noharvest “reserves” for conservation purposes. The questions presented are: Whether the President can use an Antiquities Act Proclamation to override Congress’s plain text in the O&C Act to repurpose vast swaths of O&C timberlands as a national monument where sustained-yield timber production is prohibited. Whether the Secretary of the Interior can override the O&C Act by designating 80% of the O&C timberlands as conservation “reserves” where sustainedyield timber harvest is prohibited.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Timothy S. Bishop
Mayer Brown, LLP
For respondent
Kristen L. Boyles
Earthjustice
Proceedings
- Mar 25 2024Petition DENIED. Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh would grant the petition for a writ of certiorari.
- Mar 06 2024DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/22/2024.
- Mar 05 2024Reply of petitioners American Forest Resource Council, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Feb 16 2024Brief of Federal Respondents in opposition filed.
- Feb 16 2024Brief of respondents Soda Mountain Wilderness Council, et al. in opposition filed.
- Jan 11 2024Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including February 16, 2024, for all respondents.
- Jan 10 2024Motion to extend the time to file a response from January 17, 2024 to February 16, 2024, submitted to The Clerk.
- Dec 18 2023Brief amici curiae of Representative Cliff Bentz and 28 members of Congress filed. VIDED.
- Dec 15 2023Brief amicus curiae of Pacific Legal Foundation filed.
- Dec 15 2023Brief amici curiae of Roseburg Area Chamber of Commerce and NFIB Small Business Legal Center, Inc. filed.
- Dec 15 2023Brief amicus curiae of National Association of Home Builders of the United States filed.
- Dec 12 2023Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including January 17, 2024, for all respondents.
- Dec 12 2023Brief amici curiae of Public Lands Council and National Cattlemen's Beef Association filed.
- Dec 11 2023Motion to extend the time to file a response from December 18, 2023 to January 17, 2024, submitted to The Clerk.
- Nov 15 2023Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 18, 2023)
- Sep 29 2023Application (23A280) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until November 15, 2023.
- Sep 26 2023Application (23A280) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from October 16, 2023 to November 15, 2023, submitted to The Chief Justice.