1972, May, Pg. 57. The Environment.

1 Colo.Law. 57

Colorado Lawyer

1972.

1972, May, Pg. 57.

The Environment

57Vol. 1, No. 7, Pg. 57The EnvironmentRoy Stromme is Director of Colorado Environmental Legal Services, a non-profit organization devoted to the preservation and enhancement of the environment. Mr. Stromme, a third-year student at the University of Denver College of Law, prepared this month's column at the request of the CBA Committee.On February 11, 1972, in the United States District Court in Colorado, Judge Sherman Finesilver signed the Judgment Order for the first case dealing with ecological damage to be tried before a jury. It was ordered that pursuant to the jury verdict, the plaintiff, United States of America, recover of the defendants, Denarius Mining Company, Edmond A. Glos II, and J.O. Karstrom, Jr., jointly and severally the sum of $3,500.00. Defendant Denarius Mining Company failed to appear and a default was entered against the corporation.

The United States initiated the suit of United States(fn1) v. Denarius Mining Company, with the complaint that defendants in June, 1966, built a road across Arapahoe National Forest land without permission and in violation of Forest Service regulations. This road constituted a trespass on United States government property and damages resulted from the trespass which plaintiff alleged gave rise to exemplary and actual damages. The court gave a verdict for the defendants on the issue of exemplary damages.

Plaintiff introduced evidence to show that defendants built an access road largely through a tundra ecosystem, and that substantial portions of the road passed across National Forest land. At the outset, the issues presented in the case were:

(1) Whether the Forest Service had the right to involve itself in the location and method of access where such access involved crossing Forest Service lands,

(2) Whether the requirement for a Forest Service access permit was a lawful condition precedent for use of Forest Service lands by defendants;

(3) Whether the individual defendants are liable to plaintiff for compensatory damages;

(4) Whether the individual defendants are liable to plaintiff for exemplary damages.

Law concerning Forest Service rights to regulate and design the route of access stemmed from 16 U.S.C. §§ 478 and 551, which state that persons prospecting mineral resources in national...