Free Brief - District Court of Colorado - Colorado

Case 1:00-cv-02361-WDM-BNB

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Filed 03/26/2007

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Related Case Nos. 00-cv-02361- through 00-cv-02363-W DM-OES and Case Nos. 00-cv-02365- through 00-cv-02374-W DM-OES; and, Concerning Case Nos. 00-cv-02364-MJW -OES and 00-cv-02394-MJW -OES

Civil Action No. 00-cv-02361-WDM-OES WYRICK G. DEANE, Plaintiff, v. MILTON TUCKER, et al., Defendants.

DECLARATION OF MARIBETH GUSTAFSON

I, Maribeth Gustafson, declare, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, the following: 1. 2. I am currently the Forest Supervisor for the White River National Forest. The White River National Forest (the "Forest") has approximately 2.3 million

acres; therefore, it is one of the largest sections of the National Forest System. The Forest has ten peaks over 14,000 feet, and eight Wilderness areas encompassing more than 750,000 acres, and is home to world-renowned ski resorts. 3. As the Forest Supervisor, I lead a team of district rangers in six ranger districts

and am responsible for keeping the Forest running smoothly. 4. In the 1994 Mt. Sopris Land Exchange, Pitkin and Eagle Counties transferred to

the United States county lands consisting of approximately 1,307 patented mining acres that were located within or adjacent to the White River National Forest in exchange for a 217-acre parcel

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located in Eagle County (formerly known as the Mount Sopris Tree Nursery) owned by the federal government. 5. Since 1994, the properties conveyed to the United States have been incorporated

into, managed, controlled, and open to the public as part of the White River National Forest. As a result of the Land Exchange, fifty-one (51) lawsuits were filed against the United States challenging the United States' title to certain mining claims included in the Land Exchange. 6. Deane is a plaintiff in fifteen (15) of these lawsuits that seek to quiet title to

twenty-five (25) of the Mining Claims that were transferred from Pitkin County to the United States. 7. The United States and Deane have been working on a settlement of the Deane

lawsuits for approximately two and one-half years. The proposed settlement had to be approved not only by the White River National Forest, but also by the Regional Office in Denver, the Forest Service in Washington D.C., and the Office of General Counsel. 8. The Forest Service considers the proposed settlement to be very advantageous to

the Forest Service and consistent with our mission for the Forest of preserving the wilderness and using the Forest resources wisely. 9. Under the terms of the proposed settlement, title will be quieted to the twenty-five

(25) Mining Claims at issue in the fifteen (15) Deane lawsuits. Deane will quitclaim these properties to the United States, resolving all remaining issues to title as to these inholdings in the Forest. Deane will also quitclaim three (3) other mining claims to the United States that were included in the Land Exchange but were not involved in the litigation. This is advantageous

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because it erases any cloud on the United States' title to these parcels. 10. As part of the settlement, Deane will also convey to the United States seven (7)

additional parcels (the "Deane Parcels"), which are located in a designated wilderness area. Acquiring these 7 Deane Parcels is a high priority for the United States. They are lands that were not subject to the Land Exchange or the litigation and they represent a "new" acquisition for the United States. 11. These Parcels comprise 65% of the remaining privately-owned parcels located in

the Wilderness Area lying within Pitkin County. The 7 Deane Parcels are described here by claim name, U.S. Mineral Survey Number, acreage, and area description:
LODE M INING CLAIM S Champion Great W estern Expectation Central Terror Parallel Granite Robert Bonner TOTALS = 7 properties USM S # 3763 # 6054 # 7024 # 0633 # 5295 #2821 #5509 ACRES 10.33 5.88 10.33 10.33 10.33 10.06 10.00 67.26 AREA DESCRIPTION Up Conundrum Valley 2 miles up East Maroon Pass Trail Top of East Maroon Pass Top of East Maroon Pass Top of East Maroon Pass Parking lot at Montezuma Base; access to Castle Peak Up Conundrum Valley above Albouy Marble Quarry Site

12.

With the Deane Parcels, the United States would obtain over 67 acres of

wilderness/trailhead lands and private inholdings located within the Maroon Snowmass Wilderness Area and the White River National Forest, including three recreational trails used by the public that are not currently subject to any formal easement for such use. 13. The United States would also obtain a parking area used by the public to access

Castle Peak, a popular 14,000-foot peak used by climbers throughout the year. Placing the seven (7) Deane Parcels in federal ownership would also eliminate any obligation to provide Deane 3

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with access rights across existing Wilderness lands to the now privately-owned Parcels. Additionally, by obtaining title to these lands, the United States would eliminate approximately 4.5 miles of boundary survey and 28 boundary monuments. 14. Private properties in this area have been a high-acquisition priority for the United

States for many years. Acquiring the seven (7) Deane Parcels is therefore consistent with, and in substantial furtherance of, this priority acquisition goal. 15. In return, the United States' only agreement is to cross-convey to Deane a 2.26

surface-acre parcel ("Parcel A") ­ carved from the Ophir and the Diamond Lode Mining Claims, which were conveyed by Pitkin County to the United States in the Land Exchange. Parcel A is located on Richmond Hill and is already encumbered with a cabin. Parcel A is not located in a designated wilderness area and the area where Parcel A is located contains many small mineral properties resulting in an extremely mixed ownership pattern. This mixture makes management of the area difficult for the Forest Service. In fact, the area is not currently managed for either recreational or product use by the Forest Service. Moreover, Parcel A is located out of view from surrounding national forest lands and is accessed by an existing road. The Forest Service has determined that the highest and best use of such area lands is as exchange lands for the acquisition of properties, like the ones it would obtain in this proposed settlement, that are more suited to National Forest management. 16. The proposed settlement is in the public's best interest for several reasons. First,

it eliminates any cloud on the title of twenty-eight mining claims that are inholdings in the Forest and currently being managed as part of the Forest. Second, it eliminates the necessity for Forest

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personnel to devote already strained resources to the litigation of the fifteen (15) quiet title lawsuits. Third, it results in the United States obtaining ownership of the Deane Parcels, which would not occur outside of the proposed settlement even if the United States litigated the fifteen (15) cases and prevailed. 17. Pitkin County should not be allowed to frustrate the United States' settlement of

the lawsuits that challenge the quality of the title that Pitkin County had to the properties it conveyed to the United States. That is especially true here where the United States is not only settling the claims as to those properties but is also acquiring additional lands that will benefit the Forest. 18. Therefore, the Forest Service requests that this Court approve the proposed

settlement between Deane and the United States over any objection by Pitkin County. Executed on March 26, 2007.

s/Maribeth Gustafson Maribeth Gustafson

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