II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2531 

For the determination of the taking of private property and damages caused 

by the Department of Interior. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2018 

Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. LEE) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

For the determination of the taking of private property and 

damages caused by the Department of Interior. 

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 ‘‘Red Cliffs Desert Re5 serve Completion 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 nine 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 without the issuance of an incidental take 

15 permit by the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv16 ice; 

17 (9) in response to the designation, James 

18 Doyle, as a member of the Habitat Conservation 

19 Plan Steering Committee, worked with other land20 owners, as well as Federal, State, and county offi21 cials, to create a Habitat Conservation Plan covering 

22 Washington County that would have allowed James 

23 Doyle to develop a portion of his land; 


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1 (10) the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv2 ice rejected the plan, stating that the plan set aside 

3 insufficient land to protect the tortoise; 

4 (11) James Doyle and the Steering Committee 

5 prepared a revised Habitat Conservation Plan, which 

6 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service ap7 proved on February 23, 1996; 

8 (12) the approved Habitat Conservation Plan 

9 allowed the development of 350,000 acres of tortoise 

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

11 James Doyle’s land, as protected tortoise habitat re12 serve where no development was allowed; 

13 (13) to this end, the Habitat Conservation Plan 

14 expressly provided that the United States Fish and 

15 Wildlife Service would issue no incidental take per16 mits for desert tortoises on reserve lands; 

17 (14) in return for placing the land in the tor18 toise reserve, the United States promised that it 

19 would acquire title to all of the private land, includ20 ing James Doyle’s, by exchange or purchase at fair 

21 market value; 

22 (15) despite extensive negotiations, the United 

23 States acquired only about 400 acres of James 

24 Doyle’s land for the tortoise reserve, leaving the re25 mainder of his acreage vacant and unproductive; 


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1 (16) as the years passed, James Doyle’s inabil2 ity to develop or sell this remaining acreage resulted 

3 in severe financial limitations, leaving him unable to 

4 service the mortgages he had incurred on the land 

5 to finance acquisition and development costs; 

6 (17) on March 30, 2004, unable to develop, ex7 change, or sell the land, in which James Doyle had 

8 invested millions of dollars, James Doyle was forced 

9 to seek bankruptcy protection; 

10 (18) in 2010, James Doyle completed, and the 

11 bankruptcy court approved, a plan under which 

12 James Doyle was required to transfer to his credi13 tors all but 274 acres of his land, which he still owns 

14 but cannot develop; 

15 (19) in 2015, James Doyle filed suit in the 

16 United States Court of Federal Claims, seeking just 

17 compensation for the land that has served as a tor18 toise reserve since 1996, and was taken without 

19 compensation; 

20 (20) the United States Court of Federal Claims 

21 dismissed James Doyle’s claim, without prejudice, 

22 ruling that he must first seek and be denied a 

23 United States Fish and Wildlife Service permit to 

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


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1 Cliffs Desert Reserve where no development is al2 lowed; and 

3 (21) the permit process would take several 

4 years and would be futile. 

5 SEC. 3. SETTLEMENT OF CLAIM. 

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

7 shall pay James Doyle, out of money not otherwise appro8 priated, a sum of money, in an amount to be determined 

9 by the United States Court of Federal Claims, rep10 resenting the amount to which James Doyle may be enti11 tled in order to make James Doyle whole for any damages 

12 and losses sustained by James Doyle by reason of the Fed13 eral Government’s taking of approximately 2,000 acres of 

14 his land located in the St. George area of Utah, now des15 ignated as the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve and set aside 

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

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

18 1531 et seq.). 

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

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

21 all claims of James Doyle against the United States. 

Æ 


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