Utah v. United States, 406 U.S. 484 (1972)
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Scribd Government DocsUtah v. United States, 406 U.S. 484 (1972)
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Scribd Government Docs406 U.S.
484
92 S.Ct. 1691
32 L.Ed.2d 246
State of UTAH
v.
UNITED STATES of America.
No. 31, Orig.
Supreme Court of the United States
May 22, 1972
DECREE
It is ordered, adjudged and decreed that:
1. The United States of America, its departments and agencies are
enjoined, subject to any regulations which the Congress may impose, such
as in the interest of navigation or pollution control, from asserting against
the State of Utah any claim of right, title, and interest:
(a) to the bed of the Great Salt Lake lying below the water's edge of Great
Salt Lake on June 15, 1967,* with the exception of any lands within the
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and the Weber Basin federal
reclamation project;
(b) to the natural resources and living organisms in or beneath the bed of
the Great Salt Lake as delineated in (a) above; and
(c) to the natural resources and living organisms either within the waters
of the Great Salt Lake, or extracted therefrom, as delineated in (a) above.
2. The State of Utah is not required to pay the United States, through the
Secretary of the Interior, for the lands, including any minerals, delineated
in paragraph 1 above of this decree.
3. The basic question yet to be determined in this case is whether prior to
June 15, 1967, the claimed doctrine of reliction applies and, if so, whether
the doctrine of reliction vests in the United States, and thus divests the
State of Utah, of any right, title, or interest to any or all of the exposed
shorelands situated between the water's edge on June 15, 1967, and the
meander line of the Great Salt Lake as duly surveyed prior to or in
accordance with 1 of the Act of June 3, 1966, 80 Stat. 192. A Special
Master will be appointed by the Court to hold such hearings, take such
evidence, and conduct such proceedings as he deems appropriate and, in
due course, to report his recommendations to the Court.
4. There also remains the question whether the lands within the meander
line of the Great Salt Lake (as duly surveyed prior to or in accordance
with 1 of the Act of June 3, 1966, 80 Stat. 192), and thus conveyed to
the State of Utah, included any federally owned uplands above the bed of
the Lake on the date of statehood (January 4, 1896) which the United
States still owned prior to the conveyance to Utah. The Special Master
appointed by the Court as provided in paragraph 3 above will also be
directed to hold such hearings, take such evidence, and conduct such
proceedings with respect to this question as he deems appropriate in light
of his determinations with respect to the issues referred to him in
paragraph 3 above and, in due course, to report his recommendations to
the Court.
5. The prayer of the United States of America in its answer to the State of
Utah's Complaint that this Court 'confirm, declare and establish that the
United States is the owner of all right, title and interest in all of the lands
described in Section 2 of the Act of June 3, 1966, 80 Stat. 192, as
amended by the Act of August 23, 1966, 80 Stat. 349, and that the State of
Utah is without any right, title or interest in such lands, save for the right
to have these lands conveyed to it by the United States, and to pay for
them, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of June 3, 1966, as
amended,' is denied.
APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL MASTER
It is ordered that Honorable Charles Fahy, Senior Judge of the United
States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit be, and he is
hereby, appointed Special Master in this case in the place of Honorable J.
Cullen Ganey, deceased. The Special Master shall have authority to fix
the time and conditions for the filing of additional pleadings and to direct
subsequent proceedings, and have authority to summon witnesses, issue
subpoenas, and take such evidence as may be introduced and as he may
deem it necessary to call for. The Master is directed to submit such reports
as he may deem appropriate.
The Master shall be allowed his actual expenses. The allowances to him,
the compensation paid to his technical, stenographic, and clerical
assistants, the cost of printing his report, and all other proper expenses
shall be charged against and be borne by the parties in such proportion as
the Court hereafter may direct.
It is further ordered that if the position of Special Master in this case
becomes vacant during a recess of Court, THE CHIEF JUSTICE shall
have authority to make a new designation which shall have the same
effect as if originally made by the Court herein.
