United States v. Gates of the Mountains Lakeshore Homes, Inc., and Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Company, Defendants-Intervenors-Appellees
Opinion
Opinion
Goodwin, J.
The United States appeals from a determination that its property rights are not violated by a power line laid along a road traversing public land. We reverse.
The American Bar Road, which crosses the Helena National Forest, provides access to Gates of the Mountain Lakeshore Homes, a residential subdivision in Lewis and Clark County, Montana. In 1975, the Montana Power Company applied to the Forest Service for permission to run a powerline to the subdivision beneath the road. After conducting an environmental analysis, the Forest Service denied the application on the ground that the powerline could be routed over private property. In 1978, the subdivision installed a powerline under the American Bar Road without Forest Service approval. It did, however, obtain from Lewis and Clark County a permit that purported to authorize the installation of the line pursuant to a Montana statute.
After Gates of the Mountains refused to remove the powerline, the United States brought this action, seeking damages and an injunction. The district court, 565 F.Supp. 788 (D.Mont.1983), granted defendants summary judgment with respect to their use of the American Bar Road.