The U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico has ruled that an Otero County resolution permitting the removal of trees from the Lincoln National Forest is unconstitutional because it violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The court’s order also invalidated the New Mexico state statute upon which the Otero County resolution relied because it too violated the Supremacy Clause.
The lawsuit was filed in Feb. 2012, by the Justice Department on behalf of the Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, against the State of New Mexico and the Otero County Commission. At issue in the lawsuit was the alleged authority of the State and Otero County to assert control over federal lands without the consent of the federal government.
The state statute (N.M.S.A. § 4-36-11) was enacted in 2001 and purported to authorize counties to clear undergrowth and trees on National Forest System lands without the consent of the Forest Service. In May 2011, the Otero County Commission passed the resolution claiming power to remove alleged fire hazards from federal lands within the County without first complying with federal law. The County also announced plans to cut and remove trees from more than 60,000 acres of lands on the Lincoln National Forest, without approval from the Forest Service.
The lawsuit sought an order declaring that the New Mexico statute and Otero County resolution were preempted by federal law and thus were unconstitutional. The court held that Congress possesses the sole authority to control federal lands under the U.S. Constitution’s Property Clause. The court went on to find that the Otero County resolution and New Mexico statute are in “direct conflict” with federal law, including Forest Service regulations prohibiting the cutting and removal of trees on National Forest lands without Forest Service authorization. It also held that the resolution and statute were inconsistent with several federal statutes by which Congress has delegated the authority to manage National Forests to the Forest Service – not the State or the County.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ruth F. Keegan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico and Senior Trial Attorney Andrew A. Smith of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division represented the United States in this litigation. They were assisted by Assistant Regional Director Cassandra C. Currie of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of General Counsel.
Information from Department of Justice