Title: Georgia-Pacific Corp. v. Miller

State: oregon

Issuer: Oregon Supreme Court

Document:

Argued September 12, 1956.
Affirmed November 28, 1956.
Motion to dismiss appeal denied November 28, 1956.
Affirmed November 28, 1956.
*685 Walter H. Evans, Jr., argued the cause for appellants. On the briefs were Krause, Evans & Lindsay, Portland.
Norman J. Wiener, Portland, argued the cause for respondent. With him on the briefs were King, Miller, Anderson, Nash & Yerke, Portland.
Before WARNER, Chief Justice, and ROSSMAN, LUSK, BRAND, PERRY and McALLISTER, Justices.
AFFIRMED.
*686 ROSSMAN, J.
This is an appeal by the defendants, Tim and Myrl Miller, from a decree of the circuit court which adjudged that:
The tract to which the quoted words refer is owned by the defendants-appellants, who are husband and wife.
When the suit was instituted, the plaintiff was C.D. Johnson Lumber Corporation. May 13, 1953, before trial, that concern and three others, through an agreement of merger, created a corporate entity entitled Georgia-Pacific Corporation which succeeded to the rights and properties of its four predecessors. It has been substituted as the plaintiff-respondent. Hereafter, when we use the term plaintiff we will refer to C.D. Johnson Lumber Corporation, and when we use the name Miller we will mean the defendant, Tim Miller.
We will now sketch facts sufficient in extent to preface a statement of the issues presented by this appeal and having done so will complete the narrative of the facts. The fundamental issue is the nature of the right, if any, which the plaintiff-respondent has in the defendants' land. The circuit court held that it is an easement.
The defendants-appellants are the owners of the tract of land, 160 acres in extent, upon which, according to the challenged decree,
The plaintiff, in 1941 and prior thereto, was the owner and operator of a sawmill which was located in Toledo and which secured its logs from a tract of timberland about eight miles distant. The logs were brought to the mill upon a logging railroad also owned by the plaintiff. In 1941 the plaintiff desired to extend its railroad a distance of twelve miles across some tracts which formed a portion of Siletz Reservation. The latter had been established in 1855 by Presidential order. A parcel of the land which the plaintiff wished to cross and which lay in the Reservation was the land now owned by the defendants. It was then owned by an Indian, Leo Umatata. Under the General Allotment Act of February 8, 1887 (24 Stat 388) as amended, the title to Umatata's allotted land was held by the United States Government as trustee for him. The same was true during the lives of Umatata's antecedents, Rose and Foster Umatata.
March 19, 1941, the plaintiff applied to the Secretary of the Interior for a right of way across Umatata's land, and July 25, 1941, was awarded a "revocable permit." A similar course was pursued to gain the right to extend the logging railroad across the lands of other Indians which lay in the Reservation. Having secured the desired right of way, the plaintiff, in the fall of 1941, built the twelve-mile extension and expended in so doing $148,028.07. Ever since that time its trains have operated over the extension. Since 1942 the plaintiff has spent annually upon the maintenance of its right of way sums varying from $25,972.32 to $49,501.00. The entire right of way, both the original and the extension, constitute an entire *688 logging railroad. The extension is, therefore, an integral part of the whole. August 27, 1951, the United States Government issued to Umatata fee patents whereby title to the tract in question was conveyed to him. The instrument of conveyance did not mention the right of way. September 19, 1951, Umatata conveyed title to Miller, who is not an Indian. The defendants, who had long lived in the vicinity of the railroad, were fully aware of the fact that the logging railroad right of way lay upon the land which they acquired. In August, 1952, the defendants posted upon the parts of the right of way which crossed their land No Trespass signs and in other ways asserted complete ownership of the property.
The complaint sought a decree (1) perpetually enjoining the defendants from obstructing the operation of the railroad; (2) "declaring plaintiff to be the owner of an easement for the construction, operation, maintenance and use of a railroad logging right of way" over the land owned by the defendants; (3) granting other equitable relief to the plaintiff. The decree, as we have seen, awarded the desired relief.
The defendants-appellants submit and argue in their brief these four propositions:
The above states the issues submitted by the appeal.
The authority of the Secretary of the Interior over Indian lands is found in part in 5 USCA, § 485 and 25 USCA, § 2. The former provides:
The other section of the federal statutes above cited says:
The authority of the Secretary of the Interior to grant revocable permits to cross Indian lands is stated in 25 CFS, § 256.66, which reads:
Section 256.67 requires the location of a main-line logging railroad to be approved by the local superintendent and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
Section 256.68 demands that the application shall include a map in duplicate.
*690 Section 256.69 requires a schedule of damages to be attached to the application, prepared in accordance with §§ 256.75 through 256.86, among which are requirements for the preparation of a damage schedule and the attaining of the consent of the Indian allottees.
The plaintiff's application conformed with the above requirements and that fact makes it seem that these were the sections under which it applied and under which the approval was granted.
March 17, 1941, plaintiff filed a petition with the Superintendent of the Siletz Indian Agency in Salem for permission to survey a right of way upon tribal and allotted lands in the Reservation which included those of Umatata. The petition stated that the plaintiff
There is no contention that the petition failed to comply faithfully with all regulations that pertain to papers of that kind.
March 29, 1941, the Assistant Secretary of the Interior sent to the Superintendent of the Siletz Reservation a telegram, reading:
*691 Shortly the Assistant Secretary sent a letter to the superintendent in which he referred to his telegram, and explained:
April 18, 1941, the plaintiff filed with the local office of the Department of Interior a petition for authority to proceed with the construction work "on the right of way project" across the allotted and tribal lands. The document stated that the company had completed the survey and that its construction crew was working upon "its right of way where the same cross private lands adjacent to said Indian allotments and is now ready to commence construction on the right of way over said Indian lands." The petition was forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior.
A paper, entitled Memorandum of Damage Appraisal which was filed with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and which appraised the damages, is contained in the record, as is also the required map.
The record contains two documents each dated May 21, 1941, in which Umatata consented to the plaintiff's petition for a right of way. The two seemingly originated in the office of the superintendent. Both were transmitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs July 7, 1941. Each bears the title Statement of Owner followed by the subheading Proposed Railroad Right-of-Way of the C.D. Johnson Lumber Corporation. Two entries upon the instruments are preceded by the designations Damage Valuation and Annual Rental Charges. Following the data that was entered in those categories *692 there appears upon one of the documents this statement:
At that point Umatata subscribed his signature. The other document bore exactly the same superscription with the exception that the sums entered in it were, respectively, $81.50 and $23.04. It, too, was signed by Umatata.
May 15, 1941, the plaintiff deposited with the Superintendent of the Siletz Reservation the sums of money exacted by the telegram of March 29, 1941 and the subsequent letter.
According to a stipulation of the parties, which forms a part of the record,
*693 Exhibit 14, mentioned in the stipulation, bears this caption:
The document bound the plaintiff to take specified fire precautions, to provide crossings over the railroad tracks for Indians and to permit Indians to use a truck road owned by the plaintiff for purposes mentioned in the paper. The latter, which pertained not only to the leave which the plaintiff sought to cross Umatata's land, but also other Reservation lands, bound the plaintiff to pay the sums of $1,461.25 and $536.18 as the appraised amount of damages. It also required the plaintiff to pay annually $380.18 as "a flat rental charge" covering "the individual allotments" and $161.38 "on the tribal reserve lands." The paper, in addition, provided:
Exhibit 15, which, as the stipulation of the parties recognizes, constitutes the recommendations of the Tribal Business Committee, declares that the committee
The paper continues in this vein:
The stipulation signed by the parties, from which we have quoted, mentions Exhibit 16, which is a letter signed by the Superintendent addressed to the Commissioner. Accompanying it were all of the foregoing papers with the exception, of course, of the stipulation *695 which the parties to this suit effected after the trial was begun. After the letter had enumerated the several documents and mentioned the charges which the plaintiff would have to bear, it said:
Of the sums payable annually by the plaintiff $36.74 was the amount exacted for use of the right of way.
July 21, 1941, the Commissioner sent the plaintiff's petition to the Secretary of the Interior for approval with a recommendation that read:
July 25, 1941, the final approval of the application was given by Oscar Chapman, Assistant Secretary of *696 the Interior. It was endorsed upon a map which showed the course of the right of way and which bore explanatory matter. The approval was expressed in these words:
Only one of the plaintiff's checks which remitted the annual charge identified the applications of the remittance with an entry upon the check. That one employed these words: "Annual Rental  Revocable Right-of-Way Permit." The receipts which the superintendent issued to the plaintiff generally identified the payments in this manner:
While Leo Umatata owned the land he at times sent to the superintendent inquiries and in so doing referred to the right of way in this way: "for the Rideaway," "right way" or "the right away." The superintendent, in replying, spoke of "Right-of-Way, C.D. Johnson Lumber Corp." or "Right-of-Way on the Rose Umatata and Foster Umatata allotments."
On August 27, 1951, pursuant to Umatata's application, he received from the United States Government fee patents to the land. As we have said, the instrument *697 made no mention of the logging railroad. September 19, 1951, Umatata conveyed the land by warranty deed to the defendants. Miller, who had long lived in the vicinity and had known of the construction of the railroad when the work was underway, was familiar with the fact that the right of way lay upon the land which he was purchasing.
Umatata had accepted payment of the so-called rental charge for the year 1951, that being the year in which he received the fee patent which conveyed title to him. Neither then nor at any other time did he question the plaintiff's right to the continued use of the right of way.
The above is a portrayal of the facts.
The circuit court, as we have seen, decreed that the plaintiff had an assignable easement in the form of a right of way for the operation of a logging railroad over the defendants' land, conditioned upon the payment annually of the sum of $36.74 to the defendants. It granted an injunction to prevent the defendants from obstructing the easement.
We have mentioned the fact that Leo Umatata received fee patents to his land in August, 1951. Title was conveyed to him under the authority of 25 USCA, § 348. The defendants offer several arguments in an attempt to show that the permit was thereby revoked. They cite the language of the statute to the effect that the land is to be conveyed to the Indian "in fee, discharged of said trust and free of all charge, incumbrance, or restriction whatsoever." The defendants admit that, under provisions of the statutes applicable to Indian lands, the Indian can alienate his interest despite the foregoing language, but maintain that the "revocable permit" regulation is not such a provision.
*698 Plaintiff counters by arguing that the language "free of all charge or incumbrance" applies only to charges made against the Indian's will, and cites for the proposition cases holding that state taxes can not be imposed upon allotted lands during the trust status. United States v. Spaeth (D.C. Minn), 24 F Supp 465; United States v. Ferry County, Washington (D.C. Wash), 24 F Supp 399; Morrow v. United States (CCA 8), 243 F 854. Plaintiff's position seems valid.
The defendants' next contention is that the issuance of the patent revoked the permit automatically because by its terms, so the defendants argue, the permit can exist only while the Secretary of the Interior has the power to revoke.
Plaintiff cites two cases to refute this argument, but both are distinguishable. In Swendig v. Washington Power Co., 265 US 322, plaintiff power company was awarded injunctive relief restraining defendant from interfering with a power line, and obtained a declaration of its right to use the land traversed by the line. Plaintiff had constructed the power line through an Indian Reservation pursuant to a permit issued by and revocable in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior. Defendant received patents to portions of said land, none of which mentioned the power line, and thereupon denied the power company's right to operate and maintain the line. The decree was affirmed. The distinguishing factor between this case and the instant one is that the question of revocability of the permit by the issuance of a patent was specifically covered by a regulation. The applicable regulation stated that final disposal of the land was not to be construed as a revocation of the permit, and that the revocation must be specific. This regulation superseded *699 an earlier one which stated that final disposition of the land automatically revoked the permission.
Washington Water Power Co. v. Harbaugh, 253 F 681, is to the same effect. The court there quoted from a letter written by the Secretary of the Interior when the change in regulations above mentioned was contemplated. The secretary based the change on an attempt to carry out the intent of Congress.
In the case at bar, there are no regulations which govern the effect upon "revocable permits" of the issuance of patents, and no evidence of the intent of Congress since 25 CFR, § 256.66 was promulgated.
The two cases just distinguished are the only ones which have been cited by counsel on this point. Defendants present none which held that the issuance of a patent automatically cancels an outstanding "revocable permit." We are aware of no reason for attributing to the issuance of the patent involved in this case a result of that kind. The logging railroad was still needed after Umatata received the patent, and there is nothing in the record which intimates that when the permit was issued either the plaintiff or the Secretary of the Interior intended that Umatata could destroy the plaintiff's rights by applying for and receiving a patent. We recall that it was agreed before the plaintiff built the twelve-mile extension that the permit, if such is its character, could not be revoked "except for due cause and/or failure of the company to comply fully with the stipulations as set forth herein." There is no claim that the Secretary of the Interior intentionally revoked the permit for any cause whatever.
The disposition of this case, in our estimation, rests upon a determination of the nature of the right which *700 the plaintiff received through the action taken by the Secretary of the Interior July 25, 1941. On that day he endorsed upon the map which showed the course of the planned railroad the words, "is hereby approved as a revocable permit * * * subject to the terms and conditions of the stipulation executed by the applicant June 12, 1941; * * * and fencing of the right of way through allotment 196."
The term "revocable permit", although it occurs in the Agency Regulations, appears to have been an unfortunate one for denoting the nature of the right which was given. We have mentioned the fact that before the Secretary took his action on July 25 the plaintiff, on March 17, had petitioned for the privilege of entering upon the lands of Umatata and of others for the purpose of surveying a route for the contemplated railroad. March 29 the Assistant Secretary granted the permission. Then the survey was made. April 18 the plaintiff filed another instrument in which it stated that the survey had been completed and that the plaintiff wished authority to proceed with the construction work. That paper was accompanied with a map which showed the course of the desired right of way. In the meantime, other documents of which we have taken notice were filed, resulting, on July 25, in the endorsement by the Secretary upon the map of the words which we have quoted. They constituted the final grant. Powell on Real Property, § 427, gives attention to the term "revocable permission." It says:
1. Accordingly, we see that terms such as "revocable permission" and "revocable permit" are appropriate to designate the beginning of a relationship or the beginning of a course of construction work; that is, they authorize the licensee to enter upon another's land and pursue there a course of action, such possibly as building a road. But for the permit the conduct would constitute a trespass. Thus, as normally used, the terms "revocable permission" and "revocable permit" denote a license. However, as Powell indicates, a new problem arises when the licensee, after entering upon the land, has built the contemplated road. The improvement placed upon the land under the permit may demand, so Powell indicates, that the existing situation "should no longer be called a license, but rather an easement." In the present instance, the plaintiff, after receiving the revocable permit, entered upon Umatata's land and expended $148,028.07 in the construction of the railroad. If the term "revocable permit" is synonymous with "license," then the plaintiff's expenditure of that substantial sum of money, in accordance with plans which were displayed when the "revocable permit" was issued, requires a holding that the existing relationship "should no longer be called a license, but rather an easement." See for a result to that effect Baum v. Denn, 187 Or 401, 211 P2d 478.
2. However, more than a construction license, according to our belief, was in the mind of the Assistant Secretary July 25. At that time he not only authorized the construction of the railroad, but also prescribed *702 the rules which would thereafter govern the rights of the parties in their relationship with each other. He wrote into the paper which he signed July 25, 1941, these words: "subject to the terms and conditions of the stipulations executed by the applicant on June 12, 1941." The terms and conditions which were set forth in the paper of June 12 included several of benefit to the landowner but they also specified that "the permit shall not be revoked except for due cause and/or failure of the company to comply fully with the stipulations as set forth herein." Since the plaintiff's rights in the land could not be "revoked except for due cause and/or failure of the company to comply * * *," they were not at the will of the owner of the land. In contrast to that situation, Restatement of the Law, Property, § 519, states:
The section just cited contains exceptions which we omitted from the quotation because they are not germane. The circumstances of which we have just taken notice indicate that something more than a license was granted to the plaintiff. The words which we quoted from the grant made by the Assistant Secretary July 25 make provision that the "revocable permit" was transferable if the written consent of the superintendent to a transfer was appended to it. Licenses, generally, are not transferable. Strandholm v. Barbey, 145 Or 427, 26 P2d 46; Ewing v. Rhea, 37 Or 583, 62 P 790; Thompson on Real Property, Perm Ed, § 713; Powell on Real Property, § 428. That incident also indicates that something other than a license was in the minds of the parties when the term "revocable permit" was used. We will now give attention to another factor *703 which possibly indicates what the Secretary of the Interior had in mind.
3. The object of the negotiations which the plaintiff and the Secretary of the Interior began March 17 was a right of way for a railroad. The term "right of way" was constantly upon their tongues as the plaintiff and the Secretary conducted the negotiations. The "revocable permit" was endorsed upon a map which depicted the entire course of the right of way. Lettered upon the map was a certificate of the president of the C.D. Johnson Lumber Corporation which vouched for the accuracy of the map and in which he stated:
The revocable permit incorporated within itself the stipulation which seven times uses the term "right of way." More than once the stipulation accompanies the term "right of way" with the word "grant." In at least one instance it speaks in this way, "through which this right of way is granted." The term "grant" is historically the right word to employ in the creation of an easement. Powell on Real Property, § 407, says:
As we have indicated, the object of the negotiations which were begun March 17 was to secure a railroad right of way. In determining the nature of the right *704 which was created by the Secretary of the Interior July 25, 1941, the fact that he granted to the plaintiff a right of way for a railroad is highly important. The grant authorized the construction of a twelve-mile extension to its existing railroad so that it would be able to reach a large stand of timber and bring to the mill the logs secured from the stand. It was manifest that the plaintiff would need the right of way for an unforeseeable number of years and that it would be required to expend in construction of the roadbed a large sum of money. To justify the expenditure the plaintiff needed assurance that the right of way could not be taken from it without due cause. Further, it was apparent that the plaintiff would require the exclusive possession of the land constituting the right of way, for common observation shows that railroads must have sole possession of the right of way in order to promote safety of operation. According to 44 Am Jur, Railroads, § 129, p 341:
The singular character of an easement which a railroad company possesses is indicated by the following which we take from 18 Am Jur, Ejectment, § 15, p 18:
See, to like effect, 28 CJS, Ejectment, § 13, p 859. The much-cited case of Central Pacific Railroad Co. v. Benity, 5 Sawyer 118, is of interest. It was an action of ejectment. The railroad acquired its easement by an act of Congress which spoke of "right of way." We take the following from the statement preceding the decision:
The court ruled:
In Pennsylvania Schuylkill Val. R.R. v. Reading Paper Mills, 149 Pa St 18, the court defined as follows *706 the nature of the easement which a railroad acquires for right of way purposes:
In 30 Oregon Law Review 380, Note and Comment, the writer says:
4. In Powers et ux. v. Coos Bay Lumber Co., 200 Or 329, 263 P2d 913, we bestowed much attention upon the problem as to the nature of the right which is denoted by words that speak of a railroad right of way. In expressing ourselves, we employed the phrase, "in the nature of an easement." We believe that the right granted for such purposes ends when the use terminates. It entitles the grantee to exclusive possession and enables him to maintain actions of ejectment.
5, 6. We shall give no further attention to the authorities. In our opinion, the action which was taken by the Secretary of the Interior July 25, 1941, placed a servitude upon Umatata's land which subjected it to the railroad right of way as long as the right of way is employed for the transportation of logs. The servitude is available only as long as the plaintiff and its successors meet the conditions which are specified in the writing of July 25, such as the payment of the annual charge and the maintenance of protection against fire hazard.
7. The above disposes of all contentions advanced by the appellants, with the exception of the one in which *708 they suggest that, through the merger which we have mentioned, a larger volume of timber may be hauled to the mill upon the railroad. However, the merger was effected before the trial, and the permission which was given to the plaintiff did not restrict it to any given quantity of timber.
The decree of the circuit court is affirmed. However, in order to avoid misunderstanding, we add that our conception of the nature of the respondent's rights in the property is somewhat different from that of the trial judge. We believe that we have sufficiently portrayed the nature of the respondent's rights. These rights are subject to all of the limitations expressed in the aforementioned stipulation and continue only so long as the right of way is used for the hauling of forest products.
*709 Krause & Evans, Portland, for the motion.
King, Miller, Anderson, Nash & Yerke, Portland, contra.
Before WARNER, Chief Justice, and ROSSMAN, LUSK, BRAND, PERRY and McALLISTER, Justices.
MOTION DENIED.
ROSSMAN, J.
This cause is before us upon a motion filed by the defendants-respondents for an order "dismissing plaintiff-appellant's appeal herein upon the ground and for the reason that plaintiff-appellant has taken possession of the property and proceeded to exercise the right condemned by it * * *."
The action which culminated in the motion under consideration was filed pursuant to ORS 376.505 through 376.540, for the purpose of acquiring and condemning a strip of land for a logging road. The trial of the action resulted in the entry of a judgment in the sum of $4,026.20 which the plaintiff refused to pay.
After the plaintiff had refused to pay the judgment just mentioned and had given notice of appeal, the defendants-respondents filed the pending motion and accompanied it with an affidavit which shows that the plaintiff is daily in use of the land which constitutes *710 the subject matter of the condemnation action. ORS 35.120 says:
The defendants-respondents contend that since the plaintiff-appellant is in possession of the land, it has lost its right to appeal. The plaintiff has filed affidavits which aver that long before it instituted the condemnation action it secured "an easement of a right of way" over the land of the defendants-respondents which has exactly the same boundaries as the strip mentioned in the condemnation action. The affidavits explain that the easement has never been terminated and that the purpose of the condemnation action was to "condemn a greater interest." The affidavits state that, in order to simplify the award of damages, the plaintiff agreed that the amount to be assessed by the jury should not be lessened by the easement.
Since the plaintiff's right in the property, in the nature of a railroad right of way, has never been terminated and remained unaffected by the condemnation action, the plaintiff was warranted in remaining in possession even after the entry of judgment and the giving of notice of appeal. Therefore, its conduct since notice of appeal was given is not inconsistent with its challenge of the judgment.
The motion to dismiss is denied.
*712 Norman J. Wiener, Portland, argued the cause for appellant. With him on the briefs were King, Miller, Anderson, Nash & Yerke, Portland.
Walter H. Evans, Jr., argued the cause for respondents. On the brief were Krause & Evans and Jack L. Kennedy, all of Portland.
Before WARNER, Chief Justice, and ROSSMAN, LUSK, BRAND, PERRY and McALLISTER, Justices.
AFFIRMED.
ROSSMAN, J.
This is an appeal by the plaintiff from a judgment, based upon a verdict, which the circuit court entered in an action instituted by the plaintiff to condemn and acquire an easement of right of way over land owned by the defendants. The strip of land which the plaintiff sought was roughly 80 feet wide and aggregated 2.62 acres. The action was based upon ORS 376.505 through 376.540. Oregon Mesabi Corporation v. C.D. Johnson Lumber Corporation, 166 F2d 997. The issue as to use and necessity was tried by the court without a jury and resulted in the entry of an order in favor of the plaintiff which is not attacked upon appeal. Then the issue of compensation was submitted *713 to a jury which returned a verdict of $4,026.20. Following the filing of the verdict, the judgment challenged by this appeal was entered.
After the institution of this proceeding the C.D. Johnson Lumber Corporation, which had filed this action, and three other corporations through an agreement of merger, created a corporate entity entitled Georgia-Pacific Corporation which succeeded to all of the rights and properties of its four predecessors. It has been substituted as the plaintiff-appellant. The defendants-respondents are Tim Miller and his wife, Myrl F. Miller, who are the owners of the land involved in this proceeding.
The appellant presents the following two assignments of error:
Appellant's brief explains:
*714 Prior to the aforementioned merger, the C.D. Johnson Lumber Corporation operated a lumber plant in Toledo which secured its logs from a tract of timberland in the Upper Siletz River gorge. The logs were brought to the plant upon a logging railroad owned and operated by the company. Beyond the end of the railroad lay a part of the Siletz Reservation, including a tract of 160 acres of which an Indian by the name of Leo Umatata was the beneficial owner. The title to his tract was held by the United States Government in trust for him under the General Allotment Act of 1887, 24 Stat 388 as amended.
In 1941, about eleven years before this proceeding was begun, the Johnson Company wished to extend its logging railroad about twelve miles. The contemplated extension would cross a part of Umatata's land. March 19, 1941, the Johnson Company applied to and, July 25, 1941, received from the Secretary of the Interior, through the medium of an instrument which spoke of a "revocable permit," leave to cross Umatata's land. The instrument required the payment annually of $36.74. Umatata's land was only one of several tracts owned by Indians which the contemplated extension would cross. After the leave of July 25, 1941, was received, the extension was built and thereupon the logging trains used it. August 27, 1951, pursuant to his application, the United States issued to Umatata fee patents to his allotted land and September 19, 1951, Umatata conveyed it to the defendant, Tim Miller, a white man. Miller had long known of the railroad and knew that it crossed the 160-acre tract. In August, 1952, Miller posted No Trespass signs on the railroad tracks at the places where they crossed his land and in other ways asserted absolute ownership over the entire tract.
*715 From the above, we observe that when this proceeding was instituted September 2, 1952, the railroad was already upon the land. However, under stipulation of the parties, in the assessment of compensation, no account was taken of the rights, if any, which the plaintiff had in the land.
We will now consider the assignments of error.
Defendant-respondent Tim Miller, to whom we will refer as Miller, was the only defense witness. By virtue of the facts that he owned the tract in question, was familiar with it and had had many years of logging experience, he qualified, under familiar rules, as an expert witness on the question of the amount by which plaintiff's use of the right of way depreciated the value of his remaining, now divided, tract. He testified that, in his opinion, his remaining land had been depreciated in value by a sum in excess of $12,000. Upon cross-examination, some of the bases of that figure were elicited by plaintiff's counsel:
Plaintiff's motion to strike the testimony segregated the three allegedly improper elements: fires in the future, fires caused specifically by campers or fishermen, and increased cost of fire insurance. For convenience, these will be treated individually.
1. Plaintiff first contends that the risk of future fires resulting from negligent operation of its locomotives is an improper element in estimating the depreciation in value of defendant's tract. Plaintiff has not cited any portion of Miller's testimony in which he based his estimate upon future negligence in the operation of the trains. There is none. In response to queries on cross-examination, Miller testified that he thought the value of the property had depreciated because of fire hazard and that the danger of fires set by trains was "the most dangerous." It is significant that, in its instructions to the jury, the court specified that fire hazard could only be considered if it depreciated the value of the remaining tract and that "any possible damage which may result from negligence in the use of the right of way by plaintiff" was not to be considered. 2 Lewis on Eminent Domain, 3rd Ed, § 740, p 1314, states the rule as follows:
In 1 Orgel, Valuation under Eminent Domain, 2d Ed, § 63, p 288, it is said:
Idaho & W.R. Co. v. Coey, 73 Wash 291, 131 P 810; Texas Midland R. Co. v. Burt (Tex Civ App), 243 SW 669; Chicago, I. & L. Ry. Co. v. Ader, 184 Ind 235, 110 NE 67; Raleigh, C. & S. Ry. v. Mecklenburg Mfg. Co., 169 NC 156, 85 SE 390. See, also, Oregon and California Railroad Co. v. Barlow, 3 Or 311, and Oregon Mesabi Corp. v. C.D. Johnson Lumber Corp., 166 F2d 997.
Plaintiff cites as the next improper element of depreciation in value Miller's affirmation of counsel's suggestion relative to fires caused by the carelessness of "hikers or campers or fishermen." The efforts of counsel have brought to light no cases bearing on the question of increased fire hazard brought about by the more convenient access to an area made possible by the building of a railroad. Plaintiff has submitted two cases which disallowed as remote and speculative the contention that the railroad would bring tramps into the area who would (1) lodge in a barn seen "over the top of the corn," and (2) increase the risk to an orchard. Louisville & N.R. Co. v. Hall, 143 Ky 497, 136 SW 905; The Kansas City & Emporia R.R. Co. v. Kregelo, 32 Kan 608, 5 P 15.
*718 In the instant case the jury was instructed "not to take into consideration remote or speculative damages," and cautioned that all damage "must be actual, real, and supported by the evidence." In addition to Miller's testimony, the testimony of plaintiff's witness, Floyd Blackburn, a man with logging experience dating back to 1906, employed at the time of trial by the Valsetz Lumber Company, could have been considered by the jury as having bearing on this point:
2. In the light of such testimony it cannot be said that the element under consideration was so remote or speculative as to be removed from the consideration of the jury.
Finally, plaintiff contends that Miller's inclusion of higher fire insurance rates as an element in estimating the depreciation in value of his remaining land was erroneous. Plaintiff quotes from 2 Lewis on Eminent Domain, 3rd Ed, § 740, p 1315:
Plaintiff failed to note footnote 84 on that page:
This rule is also set forth in 29 CJS, Eminent Domain, § 170, p 1040:
*720 3. Well-reasoned authority supports this view. Esclick v. Mason City & Ft. D. Ry. Co., 75 Iowa 443, 39 NW 700; Cedar Rapids, Iowa Falls & Northwestern Ry. Co. v. Raymond, 37 Minn 204, 33 NW 704. North Arkansas & Western Ry. Co. v. Cole, 71 Ark 38, 70 SW 312, cites the two foregoing cases and discusses the question at length. In that case, the landowner claimed that the value of his barn had been lessened because of the increased risk of fire brought about by the passing trains. The railroad offered to prove that the landowner's fire insurance rates would not be raised as a result of the introduction of the railroad. This offer was rejected by the trial court, and, citing this as error, the judgment was reversed. The court said:
4, 5. The test to be applied upon a question of the validity of an alleged element in the depreciation of land value, then, is whether it would tend to give a prospective *721 buyer pause and, on that account, seek a lower purchase price. It cannot be said that a prospective purchaser would disregard (1) the increased hazards of fire arising from the presence of the railroad and the ensuing increased likelihood that third persons will visit the property, and (2) the resulting prospect of higher fire insurance rates. That being so, an evaluation including those items was properly submitted to the jury.
We believe that the two assignments of error lack merit.
The challenged judgment is affirmed.