Gloria A. Brothers and Edgar C. Newall v. The United States of America

The plaintiffs, Brothers and Newall, sued the government for inverse condemnation, alleging the taking of a mining claim and two cabins situated on the claim. We affirm a dismissal by the district court.

The mining claim in question was held previously by Mrs. Wagner, a friend of the plaintiffs. In February 1974, after a proper hearing, an administrative law judge declared her claim invalid for lack of valuable mineral discovery, and she did not appeal. The Forest Service notified her several times in writing that, if she did not remove the cabins, they would become the property of the United States. When she failed to act, Forest Service officials met with her and with plaintiff Brothers on July 28,1975, and advised her of a July 31, 1975, deadline to remove the property.

The day after the meeting the plaintiffs filed a claim coinciding with the boundaries of the Wagner claim. On July 31, 1975, the officials posted signs on the cabins stating that they were government property and trespass was prohibited. The plaintiffs later posted their own “no trespass” signs over the government signs but ceased using the cabins.

They then sued for inverse condemnation alleging that the…