Opinion ID: 412048
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the sufficiency of the commission's findings.

Text: 29 Both parties in the Kirby case have challenged the sufficiency of the commission's report and findings. The district court accepted the commission's report and recommendations, ruling that the commission's findings were not clearly erroneous. 30 While the clearly erroneous standard of review applies to the commission's findings, Fed.R.Civ.P. 71A, conclusory findings alone are not sufficient. United States v. Merz, 376 U.S. 192, 198, 84 S.Ct. 639, 643, 11 L.Ed.2d 629 (1964). The Supreme Court stated in Merz that conclusory findings as made in these cases are normally not reviewable by that standard, even when the district court reads the record, for it will have no way of knowing what path the commissioners took through the maze of conflicting evidence. Id. In United States v. Trout, 386 F.2d 216, 224 (5th Cir.1967), we held that Merz required the commission to give reasons for its conclusions to enable the reviewing court to determine the reasoning process underlying the commission's decision. More recently, we held that [t]he paths followed by the commission in reaching the amount of the award shall be distinctly marked, ... if not blazed with an array of findings of subsidiary facts that demonstrate that the ultimate finding is soundly and legally based. Georgia Power Co. v. 138.30 Acres of Land, 596 F.2d 644, 649 (5th Cir.1979), vacated and remanded on other grounds, 617 F.2d 1112 (5th Cir.1980) (en banc), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 936, 101 S.Ct. 1403, 67 L.Ed.2d 372 (1981) (citation omitted). 31 We agree with the parties in this case that the commission's report is inadequate and that the case must be remanded for further findings. The parties have cited numerous examples where the report could use further elaboration. For example, the government points out that there is no acreage breakdown for the various uses of the property, although some of the uses are incompatible. Further, the report inadequately discusses the testimony of the landowner's appraiser, Willard Hall. The United States moved to strike that testimony, on the ground that Hall had failed to reduce his valuation testimony to reflect what Kirby conceded to be an error in the computation of timber value. The government claimed a number of other errors in Hall's valuation of the timber, as well as in his estimate of highest and best use. Kirby also asserts inadequacies in the report and contends further that the commission should have added on value for the unique nature of the property. 32 The parties have asked us to rule on a number of the issues that were not addressed adequately below, specifically whether Hall's testimony should have been stricken and whether the commission should have considered the unique qualities of the property. We decline to give what would be in effect an advisory opinion. Rather, we remand the case to the district court for a determination of the various issues raised by the parties, with instructions to follow the guidelines established by Merz and its progeny. 33