II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1542 

For the relief of James Doyle, doing business as Rocky Mountain Ventures 

and Environmental Land Technologies, Ltd. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 12, 2017 

Mr. HATCH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

For the relief of James Doyle, doing business as Rocky 

Mountain Ventures and Environmental Land Technologies, Ltd. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Private Relief for 

5 James Doyle Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) in the early 1980s, James Doyle, doing 

9 business as Rocky Mountain Ventures and Environ10 mental Land Technologies, Ltd., began assembling 

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1 land for a massive real estate development in the 

2 rapidly growing St. George area of Utah; 

3 (2) the centerpieces of this development were 9 

4 golf courses surrounded by luxury homes; 

5 (3) during the 1980s, James Doyle acquired 

6 2,440 acres and held preferential rights to an addi7 tional 11,000 acres for this development; 

8 (4) throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, 

9 James Doyle invested large amounts of money to ac10 quire and develop this land, including— 

11 (A) procuring the water rights and engi12 neering studies; 

13 (B) developing proposals and designs for 

14 transportation corridors; 

15 (C) constructing 1 golf course and design16 ing 9 more; 

17 (D) developing utility layouts and place18 ments; 

19 (E) installing necessary sewer, water, and 

20 power for the various properties; and 

21 (F) securing all necessary zoning adjust22 ments and development permissions; 

23 (5) with planning and preparation essentially 

24 complete by 1989, James Doyle was prepared to 

25 break ground for the initial phase of his project; 

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1 (6) on April 2, 1990, the United States Fish 

2 and Wildlife Service published a final rule listing the 

3 Mojave population of the desert tortoise as ‘‘threat4 ened’’ under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

5 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

6 (7) on February 8, 1994, the United States 

7 Fish and Wildlife Service published a final rule des8 ignating all of James Doyle’s land as critical habitat 

9 for the Mojave population of the desert tortoise; 

10 (8) the listing of the desert tortoise and des11 ignation of James Doyle’s land as critical habitat for 

12 the tortoise made James Doyle’s planned land devel13 opment, as well as that of other nearby lands, un14 lawful; 

15 (9) in response to the designation, James 

16 Doyle, as a member of the Habitat Conservation 

17 Plan Steering Committee, worked with other land18 owners, as well as Federal, State, and county offi19 cials, to create a Habitat Conservation Plan covering 

20 Washington County that would have allowed James 

21 Doyle to develop a portion of his land; 

22 (10) the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv23 ice rejected the plan, stating that the plan set aside 

24 insufficient land to protect the tortoise; 

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1 (11) James Doyle and the Steering Committee 

2 prepared a revised Habitat Conservation Plan, which 

3 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service ap4 proved on February 23, 1996; 

5 (12) the revised Habitat Conservation Plan al6 lowed the development of 350,000 acres of tortoise 

7 habitat, and set aside 61,022 acres, including all of 

8 James Doyle’s land, as protected tortoise habitat re9 serve where no development was allowed; 

10 (13) in return for placing the land in the tor11 toise reserve, the United States promised that it 

12 would acquire title to all of the private land, includ13 ing James Doyle’s, by exchange or purchase at fair 

14 market value; 

15 (14) despite extensive negotiations, the United 

16 States acquired only about 400 acres of James 

17 Doyle’s land for the tortoise reserve, leaving the re18 mainder of his acreage vacant and unproductive; 

19 (15) as the years passed, James Doyle’s inabil20 ity to develop or sell this remaining acreage resulted 

21 in severe financial limitations, leaving him unable to 

22 service the mortgages he had incurred on the land 

23 to finance acquisition and development costs; 

24 (16) on March 30, 2004, unable to develop, ex25 change, or sell the land, in which James Doyle had 

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1 invested millions of dollars, James Doyle was forced 

2 to seek bankruptcy protection; 

3 (17) in 2010, James Doyle completed, and the 

4 bankruptcy court approved, a plan under which 

5 James Doyle was required to transfer to his credi6 tors all but 274 acres of his land, which he still owns 

7 but cannot develop; 

8 (18) in 2015, James Doyle filed suit in the 

9 United States Court of Federal Claims, seeking just 

10 compensation for the land that has served as a tor11 toise reserve since 1996, and was taken without 

12 compensation; 

13 (19) the United States Court of Federal Claims 

14 dismissed James Doyle’s claim, without prejudice, 

15 ruling that he must first seek and be denied a 

16 United States Fish and Wildlife Service permit to 

17 develop his land, even though it is within the Red 

18 Cliffs Desert Reserve where no development is al19 lowed; and 

20 (20) the permit process would take several 

21 years and would be futile. 

22 SEC. 3. SETTLEMENT OF CLAIM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

24 shall pay James Doyle, out of money not otherwise appro25 priated, a sum of money, in an amount to be determined 

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1 by the United States Court of Federal Claims, rep2 resenting the amount to which James Doyle may be enti3 tled in order to make James Doyle whole for any damages 

4 and losses sustained by James Doyle by reason of the Fed5 eral Government’s taking of approximately 2,000 acres of 

6 his land located in the St. George area of Utah, now des7 ignated as the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve and set aside 

8 as habitat for the Mojave desert tortoise, a species listed 

9 under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

10 1531 et seq.). 

11 (b) FULL SATISFACTION OF CLAIMS.—The payment 

12 made under subsection (a) shall be in full satisfaction of 

13 all claims of James Doyle against the United States. 

Æ 

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