Opinion ID: 889691
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Temporary Injury.

Text: ¶ 32 We first must analyze whether Lampi presented the court with sufficient evidence to establish that the burned vegetation qualifies as a temporary injury. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 929. An injury qualifies as temporary if the tortfeasor could restore the destroyed property to substantially the condition in which it existed before the injury. Sunburst, ¶ 31 (citing Burk Ranches, 242 Mont. at 306, 790 P.2d at 447); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 929(1); U.S. v. Denver & Rio Grande W. R.R., 547 F.2d 1101, 1104-05 (10th Cir.1977). An injury that would cease to exist once remediation or restoration has been completed qualifies as temporary. Felton Oil, 182 S.W.3d at 78. ¶ 33 Courts in other jurisdictions have concluded that property damage in the form of damage to trees or a loss of trees can be restored, and, therefore, the injury qualifies as a temporary injury under § 929. Osborne, 947 P.2d at 1359 (restoration damages proper after defendant negligently burned property); Heninger v. Dunn, 101 Cal. App.3d 858, 162 Cal.Rptr. 104, 108-09 (1980) (restoration damages proper after defendants cleared trees for a road on plaintiffs' property); Huber v. Serpico, 71 N.J.Super. 329, 176 A.2d 805, 813 (N.J.Super.A.D.1962) (restoration damages proper after defendants negligently logged property); Samson Construction Co. v. Brusowankin, 218 Md. 458, 147 A.2d 430, 435-37 (1958) (restoration damages proper after a construction company wrongly cleared trees from plaintiff's property). ¶ 34 The parties appear to agree that the fire caused temporary damage to Lampi's property. Speed argues that Lampi temporarily lost the naturally occurring vegetation upon his undeveloped wildland. Speed opined that the trees eventually would regenerate over time with minimal restoration efforts. The restoration of Lampi's property to its original condition may take a substantial amount of time, but the parties recognized that the property, nonetheless, eventually could be restored. This apparent agreement on the temporary nature of the damages comports with the reasoning of other courts on this question. ¶ 35 For example, the defendant in Denver & Rio Grande negligently caused a fire that burned 55 acres of remote government property classified as non-commercial forest land. Denver & Rio Grande, 547 F.2d at 1104. The fire burned vegetation in forested terrain and along rocky outcroppings in the steep canyon walls of Price Canyon, Utah. The court classified the damages as temporary even though restoration of the tract to its original condition by re-establishing destroyed vegetation would be a long process. Id. at 1104-05. ¶ 36 Application of the Restatement leads us to join other courts that have concluded that tree damage generally constitutes a temporary injury because trees can be replanted and restored. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 929(1). Section 929 allows Lampi to elect restoration damages for his temporary injury. Whether Lampi's loss qualifies as an appropriate case to justify restoration damages in excess of the diminution of market value hinges, however, on whether Lampi presented sufficient evidence of reasons personal to him to restore the property. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 929 cmt. (b); Sunburst, ¶ 36.