Update - Oral Argument

[whyt]

Oral argument went very well today.

Judge Alsup did question the BLM on why the EIS was taking so long and why couldn't private property owners get access in the meantime. BLM had no good answer for this question.

CBD attorney Lisa Belenky spoke for roughly two minutes, and was not heard from again.

In the end, we got a chance to plead our case in front of Judge Alsup. Something that hasnt been done since the road was closed in 2001. He did not make a decision at the hearing, but we will let eveyone know when a ruling is issued.

[luvrox]

Originally Posted by whyt

Oral argument went very well today.

Judge Alsup did question the BLM on why the EIS was taking so long and why couldn't private property owners get access in the meantime. BLM had no good answer for this question.

CBD attorney Lisa Belenky spoke for roughly two minutes, and was not heard from again.

In the end, we got a chance to plead our case in front of Judge Alsup. Something that hasnt been done since the road was closed in 2001. He did not make a decision at the hearing, but we will let eveyone know when a ruling is issued.

Wow! I am going to sleep well tonight.
Not yet a victory, however we had the Judges attention and that is one huge step forward. The cbd fell flat on their faces in court pushing their typical non-factual rhetoric.
Thank you to all who have worked so diligently on this battle.

[Chris]

NIce! Sounds like a little bit of headway!

[rockrknockr]

AWESOME, keep up the good work. i'm pullin for ya all the way

[Merlin_57]

Originally Posted by luvrox

Wow! I am going to sleep well tonight.
Not yet a victory, however we had the Judges attention and that is one huge step forward. The cbd fell flat on their faces in court pushing their typical non-factual rhetoric.
Thank you to all who have worked so diligently on this battle.

Yes...thank you FOPV.

So Gary...whens' the first trip to visit our property?

[Krusty]

even i haven't expired yet !!!

[Mustard Dog]

Good to hear, maybe we'll get some kind of victory in the end

[OTR]

In the end, mabye.





But yesterday, we got it in the end.
Judge denied us, but did say that the wait for application processing was "troublesome".


More info to come.

(glad you're back Eric)

kris.

[whyt]

For Immediate Release: September 18, 2007

Contact:
Bryan Lollich, Friends of Panamint Valley, www.fopv.org

Judges Denies Motion for Contempt.
Says 6 years to prepare an EIS is troublesome.

San Francisco – Judge Alsup denied a motion filed by private property owners to gain access to their inholdings. The motion for contempt was filed last month claiming the BLM was in contempt of a 2001 order which closed Surprise Canyon Road and exempted property owners of the closure.

In the opinion, Judge Alsup wrote that, “The exception (for private property access) reserved the issue of whether landowners could have access to inholdings. It did not create an affirmative right for landowners to have motor-vehicle access to the Surprise Canyon road.”

“Obviously, we are disappointed.” says Kris Tholke, a private property owner involved in the lawsuit. “Both the consent decree and the EA that followed it allowed for private property access.”

Private property owners have also filed for right of way applications to gain access to their property. The BLM and the Park Service have failed to issue any decision on these applications. Instead they have postponed processing the applications until an EIS, which has been underway for years, has been completed.

Judge Alsup writes, “The delay in processing proponents’ applications here is certainly troublesome.”

In a recent case, Hale v. Norton, the court was struggling on whether nine weeks was to long of a delay for processing an application. Private landowners have been delayed years in the case of Surprise Canyon Road. “The applications need to be processed,” says Bryan Lollich, a property owner. “The court found it troubling that this process is taking so long.”

Further legal action by private property owners is under consideration.

###

....this isnt over