San Juan County, Utah v. United States

We have granted en banc review in this case to resolve difficult issues concerning intervention under Fed. R. Civ. P. 24. Several conservation groups- Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, The Wilderness Society, and the Grand Canyon Trust (collectively, SUWA)- seek to intervene in a federal quiettitle action brought by San Juan County, Utah,against the United States, the Department of Interior, and the National Park Service (the NPS). (We will refer to the defendants collectively as the Federal Defendants.) The County sued to quiet title to the right-of-way it claims for Salt Creek Road, "an unpaved and ungraded jeep trail that runs in and out of Salt Creek" in Canyonlands National Park. 69 Fed. Reg. 32,871 (June 14, 2004). Opposed to County control of the road, SUWA applied to intervene as a matter of right under Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(a)(2) and permissively under Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(b). The district court denied the applications, and SUWA appealed.