United States v. Georgia-Pacific Company

This suit was instituted by the United States Government to secure declaratory relief and specific performance of an agreement entered into in 1934 between the Government and a predecessor in interest of the Georgia-Pacific Corporation. The Government brought suit in 1967 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2201 . The trial court had original jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1345 . This court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . From a judgment in favor of Georgia-Pacific and denying equitable relief to the Government, the Government has taken this appeal.

The facts of the case are as follows: Coos Bay Lumber Company, hereafter referred to as “Lumber Company”, owned certain timberlands in 1934, consisting of approximately 58,900 acres in Coos and Douglas Counties, Oregon, both within and without the northern exterior boundaries of the Siskiyou National Forest as it existed in 1934. Those timber-lands are known as the “Eden Ridge Tract”.

In 1933 Oregon’s economy and lumber industry were in a depressed condition. In the 1930’s many timber owners in the Northwest abandoned cutover lands to eliminate further payment of ad va-lorem taxes. When the lands were thus abandoned, the counties…