United States v. John Godfrey

MEMORANDUM

Defendant John E. Godfrey appeals his conviction, following a bench trial, for damaging a natural feature or other property of the United States in violation of 16 U.S.Q. § 551 and 36 C.F.R. § 261.9 (a); and constructing, placing, or maintaining a significant surface disturbance without authorization, in violation of 16 U.S.C. § 551 and 36 C.F.R. § 261.10 (a). We affirm.

1. To the degree that Defendant claims that 36 C.F.R. Part 261’s prohibitions do not apply to mining operations conducted on National Forest Service land, that argument is foreclosed by United States v. Doremus, 888 F.2d 630, 631-32 (9th Cir. 1989), in which we rejected the argument that mining operations are “exempted from the prohibitions of 36 C.F.R. Part 261.”

2. Defendant contends that he should not have been prosecuted under 36 C.F.R. Part 261 because he never received formal written notice of noncompliance pursuant to 36 C.F.R. § 228.7 (b). But Defendant failed to comply with Part 228’s prerequisites for exercising a right to conduct mining operations by refusing to submit a notice of intent or proposed plan of operations before he began activities that were likely to cause significant…