Opinion ID: 1995870
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Should the Proposed Cutting of Trees be Enjoined Because the Action Approving it was Arbitrary and Unreasonable.

Text: Appellants urge that the action of the conservation board and board of supervisors, which they challenge, was so arbitrary and unreasonable as to be unlawful. In response to this claim, the appellees urge that this court has severely limited the basis for challenging the action of political subdivisions. They urge that such limitation is found in the following statement: A municipal corporation and its officers ordinarily will not be restrained because their action is unwise, extravagant, or a mistake of judgment, but only where the action complained of is illegal, fraudulent, or clearly oppressive. Douglass v. City of Iowa City, 218 N.W.2d 908, 913 (Iowa 1974). Appellants respond that school districts are political subdivisions, and for purposes of challenging actions taken by those bodies, this court has stated: The courts of this state are not concerned with the wisdom of discretionary acts on the part of school boards.... The duty of all courts ... is to uphold a school regulation unless it is clearly arbitrary and unreasonable.... [O]ur task is to determine whether it is so unreasonable and arbitrary as to be illegal, void and unenforceable. Bd. of Dirs. of Indep. Sch. Dist. of Waterloo v. Green, 259 Iowa 1260, 1267, 147 N.W.2d 854, 858 (1967). Appellants urge that the action of the conservation board and board of supervisors was so arbitrary and unreasonable as to fail under this test. We disagree. It is significant that appellants make no effort to establish that the tree removal that was approved was unreasonable based on the merits of the action to be taken. Instead, they urge that the action approving the tree removal was arbitrary and capricious because the members of the conservation board and board of supervisors who voted to approve the tree removal were not aware of the number of trees to be removed, their location within the park, or why the executive director of the conservation commission contended that removal of the trees was the proper thing to do. We find no merit in this contention. The extent of the proposed tree removal was discussed at three meetings of the conservation board and at the board of supervisors meeting that authorized the proposed tree-removal project. The extent of the project was clearly designated in the resolutions of the respective boards approving same. The tree removal was described as all dead and dying trees within the 215-acre park and all trees of twelve-inch or greater diameter (except trees located on slopes or in ravines) in a five-acre zone within the park. The reason for the proposed tree removal had been fully discussed by the conservation board before the resolution approving it was adopted. The project was a reinitiation of an identical project approved in 1989 but not carried out. It was based on the view of professional foresters that pressure from more shade-tolerant trees had to be taken off the oak trees. Also considered was a potential use of the five-acre zone as an educational project for timber management. The dispute between the proponents and opponents of the plan arose from a difference in philosophy as to whether publicly owned timber should be actively managed or left to the devices of nature. The public agencies entrusted with that decision elected to impose a degree of active management. It was clearly within their authority to make this choice. Although the resolutions of the two public bodies do not describe the location of the five-acre zone in which the clear-cut is to occur, it is clear from the record that, in presenting the matter to the conservation board at its November 8, 2000 meeting, its executive director identified the location of this zone within the park. (It is described in the record as the five acres south of the upper parking area in the park.) Similarly, although the precise number of trees of twelve-inch diameter or the number of dead and dying trees that will be cut was not identified in the resolutions authorizing this action, we are confident that the members of the public bodies who voted to approve the project were aware of its scope. The action of the conservation board and board of supervisors has not been demonstrated to have been unreasonably or arbitrarily exercised. We have considered all issues presented and conclude that the judgment of the district court should be affirmed. AFFIRMED.