Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-07-03013/USCOURTS-ca8-07-03013-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Luke Greika
Appellant
United States
Appellee

Document Text:

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The Honorable William R. Wilson, Jr., United States District Judge for the

Eastern District of Arkansas.

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

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No. 07-3013

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Luke Greika,

Appellant,

v.

United States of America,

Appellee.

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Appeal from the United States

District Court for the

Eastern District of Arkansas.

[UNPUBLISHED]

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Submitted: April 17, 2008

 Filed: June 13, 20089

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Before GRUENDER, BRIGHT and BENTON, Circuit Judges.

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PER CURIAM.

Luke Greika appeals the district court’s1

 adverse grant of summary judgment

on his claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”), 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671 et seq.

Greika camped at a United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) campground

at Heber Springs Park, a recreational area at Greers Ferry Lake in Arkansas. The

Corps does not charge an admission fee to enter the park, but Greika paid $15 per

night to rent a campsite. A rock shifted while Greika was walking along a bluff near

his campsite, and he fell and was injured.

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Based upon our de novo review of the record, we conclude that the district court

properly granted summary judgment. See Executive Air Taxi Corp. v. City of

Bismarck, 518 F.3d 562, 566 (8th Cir. 2008) (standard of review). Greika first argues

that the Arkansas Recreational Use Statute (“ARUS”), Ark. Code Ann. §§ 18-11-301

et seq., which provides immunity for landowners who allow recreational use of their

property without charge, does not extend to the federal government. We have

consistently concluded that the ARUS provides immunity to the United States to the

same extent as a private person. See, e.g., Mandel v. United States, 719 F.2d 963, 967

(8th Cir. 1983).

Second, Greika claims that the $15 camping fee was a “charge,” and the ARUS

does not provide immunity for a landowner who charges recreational users. Ark.

Code Ann. § 18-11-307(2). “Charge” is defined as “an admission fee for permission

to go upon or use the land” and does not include “[c]ontributions in kind, services, or

cash paid to reduce or offset costs and eliminate losses from recreational use.” Id. §

18-11-302(1). Interpreting a similar Missouri statute in Wilson v. United States, 989

F.2d 953 (8th Cir. 1993), we found that a $2 fee to use land overnight was not an

“admission fee” to enter the land, where the campers “entered the park without paying

a fee.” Id. at 957. Similarly, Greika did not pay an admission fee to enter the park.

The $15 nightly fee he paid to rent the campsite was used to “offset costs and

eliminate losses from recreational use.” The Government submitted uncontested

evidence that recreational use fees amounted to only half of the annual expenditures

to maintain and operate the recreational use facilities.

Greika asks for the first time on appeal that we certify to the Arkansas Supreme

Court these two questions of law: whether the ARUS extends to the federal

government and whether the $15 camping fee is a “charge.” “Once a question is

submitted for decision in the district court, the parties should be bound by the outcome

unless other grounds for reversal are present. Only in limited circumstances should

certification be granted after a case has been decided.” Perkins v. Clark Equip. Co.,

823 F.2d 207, 210 (8th Cir. 1987). We decline to do so here.

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Because we find that the ARUS immunizes the Government, we do not address

the discretionary function exception of the FTCA.

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Finally, Greika argues that the United States maliciously failed to warn him

about an ultra-hazardous structure, loose rocks near the bluffs. See Ark. Code Ann.

§ 18-11-307(1). Assuming that the rocks were an ultra-hazardous structure, Greika

failed to show that the United States maliciously failed to guard against the danger of

shifting rocks near the bluffs. There had been no other reported incidents of injuries,

the height of the bluffs and the collapsed rocks were obvious to campers, and the

United States did not advise Greika to stand on the rocks. See Jenkins v. Ark. Power

& Light Co., 140 F.3d 1161, 1164 (8th Cir. 1998) (finding no malice where landowner

did not advise plaintiff to dive in a shallow area); Roten v. United States, 850 F. Supp.

786, 790 (W.D. Ark. 1994) (finding that, despite three previous deaths on account of

accidental falls from cliffs, the United States did not act maliciously).

Accordingly, we affirm for the reasons set forth herein as well as in the district

court’s well-reasoned opinion. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.2

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