Thomas v. Andrus

552 F.2d 871 Albert THOMAS and Ellora Thomas, his wife, Appellants, v. Cecil ANDRUS (Roger C. B. Morton), Secretary of the Interior, Sam A. DeVilbiss and Laura DeVilbiss, his wife, William Howard and Diane Howard, his wife, Appellees. No. 76-1548. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. March 28, 1977. Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied May 16, 1977. Hale C. Tognoni, argued, Phoenix, Ariz., Richard J. Riley, Bisbee, Ariz., for appellants. Peter R. Taft, Asst. Atty. Gen., Edward J. Shawaker, argued, Land of Natural Resources, U. S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., P. Michael Drake, Asst. U. S. Atty., Phoenix, Ariz., for appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Before TRASK and GOODWIN, Circuit Judges, and TURRENTINE, * district judge. PER CURIAM: 1 Albert Thomas and wife appeal a judgment in the district court which affirmed a decision by the Secretary of Interior declaring invalid certain mining claims for want of a valid discovery. See Thomas v. Morton, 408 F.Supp. 1361 (D.Ariz.1976). 2 The principal issue on appeal is whether the owners of surface (grazing) rights had standing to challenge the mineral discoveries claimed…