F I L E D

United States Court of Appeals

Tenth Circuit

JUL 10 2001

PATRICK FISHER

Clerk

PUBLISH

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

TENTH CIRCUIT

UTAH ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES, on behalf of

its members; MOUNTAIN STATES LEGAL

FOUNDATION,

Plaintiffs-Appellees,

v.

WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, in his official

capacity as President of the United States; UNITED

STATES OF AMERICA; KATHLEEN A MCGINTY,

in her official capacity as Chair of the Council on

Environmental Quality; THE COUNCIL ON

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY; BRUCE BABBITT,

in his official capacity as Secretary of the Interior;

DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR; BUREAU OF LAND

MANAGEMENT; SYLVIA BACA, in her official

capacity as Interim Director of the Bureau of Land

Management,

Defendants,

_________________________

SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS ALLIANCE;

THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY; THE GRAND

CANYON TRUST; ESCALANTE CANYON

OUTFITTERS, INC.; BOULDER MOUNTAIN

LODGE; ESCALANTE’S GRAND STAIRCASE B&B

INN, INC.,

Movants-Appellants.

No. 00-4143
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Appeal from the United States District Court

for the District of Utah

(D.C. No. 97-CV-479)

Brian B. O’Neill of Faegre & Benson LLP, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Richard A.

Duncan and William L. Underwood of Faegre & Benson LLP, Minneapolis,

Minnesota; Heidi J. McIntosh and Stephen H.M. Bloch of Southern Utah

Wilderness Alliance, Salt Lake City, Utah, with him on the briefs), for MovantsAppellants.

Susan Amanda Koehler of Mountain States Legal Foundation, Denver, Colorado;

and Michael B. Marinovich of C.E. Brooks & Associates, P.C., Denver, Colorado

(William Perry Pendley and David Andrew Wight of Mountain States Legal

Foundation, Denver, Colorado; and Constance E. Brooks of C.E. Brooks &

Associates, P.C., with them on the brief) for Plaintiffs-Appellees.

Before SEYMOUR, McKAY and BRORBY, Circuit Judges.

SEYMOUR, Circuit Judge.

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, The Wilderness Society, The

Grand Canyon Trust, Escalante Canyon Outfitters, Inc., Escalante’s Grand

Staircase B&B/Inn, and Boulder Mountain Lodge sought leave to intervene in this

action by the Utah Association of Counties to enjoin and have declared illegal the

Presidential Proclamation establishing the Grand Staircase Escalante National

Monument. The district court denied the motion to intervene. We reverse.
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I

Background

On September 18, 1996, President Clinton issued Presidential Proclamation

Number 6920 establishing the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and

reserving approximately 1.7 million acres of federal land in southern Utah from

public entry under the public land laws. The Proclamation describes the land at

issue as follows:

The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument’s vast and

austere landscape embraces a spectacular array of scientific and

historic resources. This high, rugged, and remote region, where bold

plateaus and multi-hued cliffs run for distances that defy human

perspective, was the last place in the continental United States to be

mapped. Even today, this unspoiled natural area remains a frontier, a

quality that greatly enhances the monument’s value for scientific

study. The monument has a long and dignified human history: it is a

place where one can see how nature shapes human endeavors in the

American West, where distance and aridity have been pitted against

our dreams and courage. The monument presents exemplary

opportunities for geologists, paleontologists, archeologists,

historians, and biologists.

Proclamation No. 6920, 61 Fed. Reg. 50223 (Sept. 18, 1996).

On June 23, 1997, the Utah Association of Counties filed a complaint for

injunctive and declaratory relief against the President and various federal

officials, alleging that the creation of the monument was an illegal attempt by the

Secretary of the Interior to prevent a proposed underground coal mine at Smokey

Hollow, owned by Andalex Resources Corporation and located within the
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monument. The complaint sought to have the Presidential Proclamation set aside

on the grounds that it violated the separation of powers doctrine, exceeded powers

vested in the president by the Antiquities Act of 1906, 16 U.S.C. § 431, and failed

to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. § 4332 (NEPA),

the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, 43 U.S.C. §§ 1701 et seq.

(FLPMA), and the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 701-706 (APA). 

On December 15, 1997, the Mountain States Legal Foundation filed its first

amended complaint, seeking the same relief against the same defendants and

asserting virtually the same alleged illegalities. The two cases were consolidated

later that month.

On March 21, 2000, the intervenors sought leave “to represent the interests

of public interest organizations and individuals whose goals include protecting

the nation’s public lands and assuring their continued integrity in perpetuity.” 

Aplt. App. at 85. The district court held a hearing on the motion and denied it,

stating that

[t]his case is not about the environment, it is not about the

intervenors’ property rights or interests in the monument in question. 

It is not about that. It is about the legality of the president’s action

in creating the monument. The allegations are that he violated

several statutes[,] primarily the Antiquities Act[,] by the way this

monument was created. This issue is adequately represented by the

government.

Id. at 153.
1

 “An order denying intervention is final and subject to immediate review if

it prevents the applicant from becoming a party to an action.” Coalition of

Arizona/New Mexico Counties v. Dep’t of the Interior, 100 F.3d 837, 839 (10th

Cir. 1996).

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The intervenors appeal,1 arguing the district court erred in its application of

the standards governing intervention as of right under Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(a)(2) and

under a proper assessment of the relevant factors they are entitled to intervene as

a matter of right. Alternatively, the intervenors contend the district court abused

its discretion in failing to grant permissive intervention under Rule 24(b). 

Plaintiffs respond that the application for intervention failed to meet any of the

requirements for intervention as of right, asserting (1) the application was not

timely and plaintiffs would therefore be prejudiced by allowing intervention, (2)

the intervenors’ interests do not meet the requirements for intervention, (3) the

intervenors have not shown those interests would be subject to impairment, and

(4) their interests would be adequately represented by the government in any

event.

Intervention is authorized by Rule 24, which provides in pertinent part:

Upon timely application anyone shall be permitted to intervene

in an action: . . . when the applicant claims an interest relating to the

property or transaction which is the subject of the action and the

applicant is so situated that the disposition of the action may as a

practical matter impair or impede the applicant’s ability to protect

that interest, unless the applicant’s interest is adequately represented

by existing parties.
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Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(a).

Accordingly, an applicant may intervene as of right if: (1) the

application is “timely”; (2) “the applicant claims an interest relating

to the property or transaction which is the subject of the action”; (3)

the applicant’s interest “may as a practical matter” be “impair[ed] or

impede[d]”; and (4) “the applicant’s interest is [not] adequately

represented by existing parties.”

Coalition of Arizona/New Mexico Counties v. Dep’t of Interior, 100 F.3d 837, 840

(10th Cir. 1996) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(a)(2)). This circuit follows “a

somewhat liberal line in allowing intervention.” Id. at 841 (quoting Nat’l Farm

Lines v. Interstate Commerce Comm’n, 564 F.2d 381, 384 (10th Cir. 1977)). We

generally review a district court’s ruling on the timeliness of a motion to

intervene under an abuse of discretion standard. Id. at 840. When the court

makes no findings regarding timeliness, however, we review this factor de novo. 

See Stupak-Thrall v. Glickman, 226 F.3d 467, 472 n.5 (6th Cir. 2000); Sierra

Club v. Espy, 18 F.3d 1202, 1205 n.2 (5th Cir. 1994). We review de novo the

court’s rulings on the three remaining requirements of Rule 24(a)(2). See

Coalition, 100 F.3d at 840.

II

Timeliness

We turn first to the issue of timeliness. As mentioned above, the

complaints in this case were filed in 1997 and the motion for leave to intervene
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was not filed until 2000. Plaintiffs contend the application did not meet the

timeliness requirement of Rule 24(a)(2). 

At the beginning of the hearing on the application to intervene, the district

court stated: 

. . . you are late. You’re two and a half years late. This case has

been kind of slow going anyway with the briefing and discovery, and

I am sure it is for valid reasons, but it has been a fairly slow process

anyway. It is kind of late to be adding parties.

Aplts. App. at 131. In response, counsel for the intervenors contended plaintiffs

had not identified any prejudice arising from the length of time between the filing

of the complaints and the motion to intervene; promised the intervenors would

agree to be bound by whatever discovery schedule was already in place, would not

seek additional discovery, and would not file a counterclaim or raise defenses not

raised by the government; and pointed out that while some discovery had

occurred, not a lot had happened in the case. When counsel for the Utah

Association of Counties subsequently proposed to address the timeliness issue,

the district court directed him to move on to another matter. Shortly thereafter, in

ruling from the bench, the court did not mention the timeliness factor, basing its

denial instead on other grounds. The court’s written order denying intervention

likewise does not refer to the matter of timeliness. While the court initially

observed that the application was “late,” we conclude the court simply made no

findings regarding timeliness. We therefore review this question de novo. See
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Stupak-Thrall, 226 F.3d at 472 n.5 (when district court makes no findings on

timeliness, court of appeals does not remand but applies de novo level of review).

The timeliness of a motion to intervene is assessed “in light of all the

circumstances, including the length of time since the applicant knew of his

interest in the case, prejudice to the existing parties, prejudice to the applicant,

and the existence of any unusual circumstances.” Sanguine, Ltd. v. United States

Dep’t of Interior, 736 F.2d 1416, 1418 (10th Cir. 1984) (citations omitted). “The

analysis is contextual; absolute measures of timeliness should be ignored.” Sierra

Club v. Espy, 18 F.3d at 1205; see also Stupak-Thrall, 226 F.3d at 475 (absolute

measure of time between filing of the complaint and the motion to intervene is

one of least important circumstances). “The requirement of timeliness is not a

tool of retribution to punish the tardy would-be intervenor, but rather a guard

against prejudicing the original parties by the failure to apply sooner. Federal

courts should allow intervention ‘where no one would be hurt and greater justice

could be attained.’” Sierra Club v. Espy, 18 F.3d at 1205 (citation omitted); see

also 7C CHARLES ALAN WRIGHT, ARTHUR R. MILLER & MARY KAY KANE,

FEDERAL PRACTICE & PROCEDURE § 1916, at 425-26 (2d ed. 1986) (“The

requirement of timeliness is not a means of punishment for the dilatory and the

mere lapse of time by itself does not make an application untimely.” (footnote

omitted)).
2

 The intervenors assert on appeal that they waited to file their motion to

intervene until resolution of the government’s dispositive motion in order to

ascertain whether there would ultimately be a case in which to intervene. “Courts

should discourage premature intervention that wastes judicial resources.” Sierra

Club v. Espy, 18 F.3d 1202, 1206 (5th Cir. 1994). In our view, this circumstance

is an additional factor indicating the motion to intervene was not untimely.

3

 We note the government has taken no position on the motion to intervene.

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On appeal, plaintiffs maintain that allowing intervention under the

circumstances would prejudice them because the case is ready for disposition. 

The record indicates, to the contrary, that the case is far from ready for final

disposition; no scheduling order has been issued, no trial date set, and no cut-off

date for motions set. According to the district court docket, all that had occurred

prior to the motion to intervene were document discovery, discovery disputes, and

motions by defendants seeking dismissal on jurisdictional grounds.2

Plaintiffs also assert that they would be prejudiced by allowing intervention

because adding additional parties would double the work load and add issues. 

These factors, however, are a function of intervention itself rather than the timing

of the motion to intervene. The prejudice prong of the timeliness inquiry

“measures prejudice caused by the intervenors’ delay–not by the intervention

itself.” Ruiz v. Estelle, 161 F.3d 814, 828 (5th Cir. 1998).

In view of the relatively early stage of the litigation and the lack of

prejudice to plaintiffs flowing from the length of time between the initiation of

the proceedings and the motion to intervene,3 we conclude the request for
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intervention is timely.

III

The Intervenors’ Interest

Under Rule 24(a)(2), the intervenors must “claim[] an interest relating to

the property or transaction which is the subject of the action.” The property that

is the subject of plaintiffs’ lawsuit is the monument itself. The intervenors claim

they have an interest in the continued existence of the monument and its

reservation from public entry, both on the basis of their financial stake in the

tourism the monument has created and on the basis of their desire to further their

environmental and conservationist goals by preserving the undeveloped nature of

the lands encompassed by the monument. They point out that they were “vocal

and outspoken champions and advocates” for the creation of the monument, they

have regularly commented on and participated in the government’s monument

land management plan, and they regularly visit the monument for aesthetic,

scientific and recreational purposes. Br. of Aplts. at 19-20.

We recently addressed the nature of the interest an applicant for

intervention must demonstrate in Coalition of Arizona/New Mexico Counties, 100

F.3d at 840-44. In that case, a commercial wildlife photographer, Dr. Robin

Silver, who had a particular interest in the Mexican Spotted Owl, sought to
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intervene in a suit brought against the United States Fish and Wildlife Service

challenging the Service’s decision to protect the Owl under the Endangered

Species Act. Dr. Silver had studied and photographed the Owl in the wild and

had been instrumental in the Service’s initial decision to protect the Owl under

the Act. 

In addressing whether Dr. Silver had the requisite interest to intervene as of

right, we observed that while “[t]he contours of the interest requirement have not

been clearly defined,” in this circuit the interest must be “direct, substantial, and

legally protectable.” Id. at 840 (quoting In re Kaiser Steel Corp., 998 F.2d 783,

791 (10th Cir. 1993)). We further pointed out that the inquiry is “highly factspecific,” and that “the ‘interest’ test is primarily a practical guide to disposing of

lawsuits by involving as many apparently concerned persons as is compatible with

efficiency and due process.” Id. at 841 (citations omitted). We concluded that

“Dr. Silver’s involvement with the Owl in the wild and his persistent record of

advocacy for its protection amounts to a direct and substantial interest . . . for the

purpose of intervention as of right.” Id. In reaching this conclusion, we drew

support from the Supreme Court’s statement that “the desire to use or observe an

animal species, even for purely esthetic purposes, is undeniably a cognizable

interest for purposes of standing.” Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555,
4

 As we pointed out in Coalition, because Article III standing requirements

are more stringent than those for intervention under Rule 24(a), a determination

that intervenors have Article III standing compels the conclusion that they have

the requisite interest under the rule. Coalition, 100 F.3d at 842 (citing Yniguez v.

Arizona, 939 F.2d 727, 735 (9th Cir. 1991)).

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562-63 (1992).4 We cited numerous cases in which environmental organizations

and other special interest groups have been held to have a sufficient interest for

purposes of intervention as of right in cases in which their particular interests

were threatened. See Coalition, 100 F.3d at 842-43 (citing cases). We also held

that Dr. Silver’s interest was legally protectable as evidenced by his efforts to

ensure the Owl’s protection under the Endangered Species Act. Id. at 841.

In our judgment, the circumstances in Coalition are sufficiently analogous

to those here to indicate persuasively that the intervenors have the requisite

interest. In addition to Coalition and the authority upon which it relies, we find

persuasive those opinions holding that organizations whose purpose is the

protection and conservation of wildlife and its habitat have a protectable interest

in litigation that threatens those goals. See, e.g., Mausolf v. Babbitt, 85 F.3d

1295, 1302 (8th Cir. 1996) (conservation groups seeking to preserve wilderness

nature of national park had requisite interest in lawsuit seeking to undo

snowmobiling restrictions); Sagebrush Rebellion, Inc. v. Watt, 713 F.2d 525, 527-

28 (9th Cir. 1983) (National Audubon Society had sufficient interest in lawsuit

challenging withdrawal of federal land to create bird conservation area).
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In ruling to the contrary, the district court stated that “[t]his case is not

about the environment, it is not about the intervenors’ property rights or interests

in the monument in question. . . . It is about the legality of the president’s action

in creating the monument.” Aplt. App. at 153. Plaintiffs rely on the district

court’s statements in maintaining the intervenors do not meet either the interest or

impairment prong of the Rule 24(a)(2) inquiry. Both the district court and

plaintiffs have simply misperceived the interest inquiry mandated by the rule. 

The interest of the intervenor is not measured by the particular issue before the

court but is instead measured by whether the interest the intervenor claims is

related to the property that is the subject of the action. See Sagebrush Rebellion,

713 F.2d at 528. Plaintiffs challenge the creation of the monument itself; it is

thus beyond dispute that the subject of the action is the monument. The

intervenors claim an interest relating to the monument and its continued existence

by virtue of their support of its creation, their goal of vindicating their

conservationist vision through its preservation, their use of the monument in

pursuit of that vision, and their economic stake in its continued existence. Under

the authority discussed above, we conclude the intervenors’ interest is sufficiently

related to the subject of the action to support intervention as of right.
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IV

Impairment of Interest

Rule 24(a)(2) also requires the intervenors to demonstrate that the

disposition of this action may as a practical matter impair or impede their ability

to protect their interest. This court has pointed out that “the question of

impairment is not separate from the question of existence of an interest.” Natural

Res. Def. Council v. United States Nuclear Regulatory Comm’n, 578 F.2d 1341,

1345 (10th Cir. 1978). Moreover, “the Rule refers to impairment ‘as a practical

matter.’ Thus, the court is not limited to consequences of a strictly legal nature.”

Id. “‘To satisfy this element of the intervention test, a would-be intervenor must

show only that impairment of its substantial legal interest is possible if

intervention is denied. This burden is minimal.’” Grutter v. Bollinger, 188 F.3d

394, 399 (6th Cir. 1999) (quoting Michigan State AFL-CIO v. Miller, 103 F.3d

1240, 1247 (6th Cir. 1997)).

The intervenors argue on appeal that their interest in the preservation and

protection of the monument would be significantly impaired by an adverse

decision setting aside the creation of the monument. They point out that under

the land use plan in effect before the monument was established, much of the land

it now encompasses was open to unrestricted off-road travel, and that as a result

the land itself was being degraded and its wilderness character was deteriorating. 
5

 Plaintiffs make the ludicrous argument that the intervenors cannot assert

their interest would be impaired by the invalidation of the monument’s

management plan because the lawsuit does not challenge the management plan per

se. It would appear obvious that if the Presidential Order creating the monument

were to be held invalid and the monument were to cease to exist as such, its

management plan would cease to exist as well. As we discuss above, the potential

invalidation of the monument and the plan under which it is maintained

demonstrate that the disposition of this action “may as a practical matter impair or

impede” the intervenors’ ability to protect their interest in the monument itself.

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The monument management plan, in which the intervenors have had input,

significantly restricts off-road travel and reserves the land from public entry. In

the intervenors’ view the management plan has enhanced the land with respect to

their scientific, recreational, and aesthetic interests in the monument. The

intervenors contend these environmental and conservationist interests would be

impaired were the monument to lose its protected status and previous land use

plans to be reinstated. The intervenors also state that many of them operate

businesses that have benefitted from the tourism the monument has generated, and

that these economic interests would be impaired should the monument to cease to

exist.

Plaintiffs contend the intervenors have failed to make the requisite showing

because their allegations of impairment are speculative and unsupported.5

Plaintiffs argue in addition that even if the monument management plan were set

aside, pre-existing land use plans would have to be revised, providing the

intervenors with an opportunity to protect their interests in those proceedings. 
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We find plaintiffs’ arguments unpersuasive. 

It is undisputed that the management plan presently in place, which

reserves the land from public entry and restricts off-road travel, provides greater

protection for the intervenors’ interests than prior plans. Indeed, the Utah

Association of Counties brought this lawsuit expressly because they believed

creation of the monument improperly thwarted the operation of an underground

coal mine that would presumably have proceeded under previous plans. It is thus

not speculative to conclude that the protection accorded the intervenors’ interest

in preserving the wilderness nature of the monument land would be diminished if

the land were to lose its designation as a national monument. 

Plaintiffs also contend the intervenors’ interests are not impaired because

they would be able to participate in the formulation of a revised land use plan for

the area should it lose its monument status. Again we disagree. “[W]here a

proposed intervenor’s interest will be prejudiced if it does not participate in the

main action, the mere availability of alternative forums is not sufficient to justify

denial of a motion to intervene.” Commodity Futures Trading Comm’n v.

Heritage Capital Advisory Serv., 736 F.2d 384, 387 (7th Cir. 1984). Moreover,

the possibility of impairment is not eliminated by the intervenors’ opportunity to

participate in the formulation of a revised land use plan that, at most, would not

provide the level of protection to the intervenors’ interests that the current plan
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offers.

Finally, as the intervenors point out, this court has held that “the stare

decisis effect of the district court’s judgment is sufficient impairment for

intervention under Rule 24(a)(2).” See Coalition, 100 F.3d at 844. The

intervenors argue that a judgment in favor of plaintiffs in this case would impair

the intervenors’ interest in promoting their environmental protection goals by

seeking presidential designation of other national monuments in the future.

In light of these considerations, we conclude the intervenors have

demonstrated that their interests may be impaired or impeded by the disposition of

this lawsuit. 

V

Adequacy of Representation

The intervenors have shown that their motion to intervene was timely, they

claim an interest relating to the property which is the subject of the action, and as

a practical matter their ability to protect that interest may be impaired or impeded

by the disposition of the action. Under Rule 24(a)(2), they are therefore entitled

to intervene as of right unless that interest “is adequately represented by existing

parties.” “Although an applicant for intervention as of right bears the burden of

showing inadequate representation, that burden is the ‘minimal’ one of showing
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that representation ‘may’ be inadequate.” Sanguine, 736 F.2d at 1419 (quoting

Trbovich v. United Mine Workers, 404 U.S. 528, 538 n.10 (1972)); see also

Coalition, 100 F.3d at 844. The possibility that the interests of the applicant and

the parties may diverge “need not be great” in order to satisfy this minimal

burden. Natural Res. Def. Council v. United States Nuclear Reg. Comm’n, 578

F.2d 1341, 1346 (10th Cir. 1978).

The district court stated without analysis that the government would

adequately represent the interests of the intervenors in defending the legality of

President Clinton’s designation of the monument. On appeal, plaintiffs argue the

district court was correct, pointing out that the interests of the government and the

intervenors are identical and that the intervenors have not articulated any

arguments they wish to make that the government could not make. In response,

the intervenors assert that under this court’s authority, an intervenor need only

show the possibility of inadequate representation. The intervenors rely on cases

from this and other circuits holding that this showing is easily made when the

party upon which the intervenor must rely is the government, whose obligation is

to represent not only the interest of the intervenor but the public interest

generally, and who may not view that interest as coextensive with the intervenor’s

particular interest.

A review of the authority reveals that the intervenors’ argument has merit. 
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In National Farm Lines v. Interstate Commerce Comm’n, 564 F.2d 381 (10th Cir.

1977), the plaintiff brought suit against a federal agency alleging that a section of

the Interstate Commerce Act and regulations promulgated under the Act were

unconstitutional. Common carriers protected by the Act sought to intervene on

the basis that a judgment invalidating the Act and regulations would impair the

carriers’ interest by removing the Act’s protection, thereby subjecting them to

highly injurious unregulated competition. In holding that the applicants had

shown inadequacy of representation, we pointed to authority stressing that the

showing is met when the applicant for intervention has expertise the government

may not have. We also looked to cases holding that government representation

may not adequately represent private interests because the government protects

the public interest.

We have here also the familiar situation in which the governmental

agency is seeking to protect not only the interest of the public but

also the private interest of the petitioners in intervention, a task

which is on its face impossible. The cases correctly hold that this

kind of a conflict satisfies the minimal burden of showing

inadequacy of representation.

Id. at 384.

We followed National Farm Lines in Coalition, pointing out that in both

cases the federal agency sued “must represent the public interest, which may

differ from” the applicant’s particular interest. Coalition, 100 F.3d at 845. 

Although we recognized in Coalition that a presumption of adequate
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representation arises when an applicant for intervention and an existing party

have the same ultimate objective in the litigation, see id. (quoting Northwest

Forest Res. Council v. Glickman, 82 F.3d 825, 838 (9th Cir. 1996)), we held this

presumption rebutted by the fact that the public interest the government is

obligated to represent may differ from the would-be intervenor’s particular

interest, see id. Our conclusion that government representation might prove to be

inadequate was also bolstered by cases from other circuits holding that an

intervenor’s interest would not be adequately represented by a government entity

that must represent the broader public interest. See id. (citing cases); see also

Mausolf, 85 F.3d at 1302-04 (“When managing and regulating public lands, to

avoid what economists call the ‘tragedy of the commons,’ the Government must

inevitably favor certain uses over others.”); Sierra Club v. Glickman, 82 F.3d 106,

110 (5th Cir. 1996) ( per curiam) (government representation of broad public

interest will not necessarily coincide with would-be intervenor’s narrower interest

even though they share common ground); Conservation Law Found. v.

Mosbacher, 966 F.2d 39, 44-45 (1st Cir. 1992) (“a governmental entity charged

by law with representing the public interest of its citizens might shirk its duty

were it to advance the narrower interest of a private entity”); In re Sierra Club,

945 F.2d 776, 779-80 (4th Cir. 1991) (although would-be intervenor and

government entity share objectives, entity not adequate representative due to
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obligation to represent interests of general public including those with conflicting

views).

Plaintiffs argue that National Farm Lines and Coalition are distinguishable

because in those cases the interest of the government and the applicants for

intervention did not coincide. They assert the interests are identical here because

both the government and the intervenors have the same objective–to sustain the

creation of the monument. As the above cases make clear, however, the

government’s representation of the public interest generally cannot be assumed to

be identical to the individual parochial interest of a particular member of the

public merely because both entities occupy the same posture in the litigation. In

litigating on behalf of the general public, the government is obligated to consider

a broad spectrum of views, many of which may conflict with the particular

interest of the would-be intervenor. “[E]ven the government cannot always

adequately represent conflicting interests at the same time.” Mausolf, 85 F.3d at

1303. This potential conflict exists even when the government is called upon to

defend against a claim which the would-be intervenor also wishes to contest. 

Plaintiffs also maintain that, given the government’s past conduct in this

litigation, there is nothing to indicate it will not continue to vigorously represent

the interest of the intervenors in defending the creation of the monument. 

However, “it is not realistic to assume that the agency’s programs will remain
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static or unaffected by unanticipated policy shifts.” Kleissler v. United States

Forest Serv., 157 F.3d 964, 974 (3d Cir. 1998). The government has taken no

position on the motion to intervene in this case. Its “silence on any intent to

defend the [intervenors’] special interests is deafening.” Conservation Law

Found., 966 F.2d at 44. We conclude that under the authority of this and other

circuits, the intervenors have met the minimal burden of showing that their

interests may not be adequately represented by the existing parties.

The order denying the motion to intervene under Rule 24(a)(2) is

VACATED and the matter is REMANDED to the district court with directions

that the application to intervene as of right be granted.