Court Opinion

ID: 9579856
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:59:19.963008+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:35:50.554926
License: Public Domain

HENRY, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I appreciate my colleagues’ thorough and thoughtful examination of the issues in this complicated decade-long ease. Although arguably “agua es vida” (water is life), especially in the West, I believe this case is more than a simple battle about allocating resources between the silvery minnow (and analogously situated plants and animals) and humans. There are a variety of options available, and the Supreme Court and Congress recognize that *1134“the value of endangered species [is] incalculable.” Tenn. Valley Auth. v. Hill, 437 U.S. 153, 187, 98 S.Ct. 2279, 57 L.Ed.2d 117 (1978) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). The Rio Grande, the “Big River,” occupies a pivotal role in agriculture, water supply, fishing, and ceremonial uses; and as Congress has clearly realized, the silvery minnow and other species are important parts of that ecosystem.
I write separately because (1) I see differently the standard of review for the district court’s determination of the Environmental Groups’ request for injunctive relief; (2) even under de novo review, I am not convinced that the claim is moot; (3) as to the merits, I agree with the district court that the Bureau of Reclamation (“Reclamation”) must consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) over the full scope of Reclamation’s discretion concerning Middle Rio Grande Project operations; and finally (4) I believe the district court acted within its discretion when it denied the federal agencies’ motion for vacatur.
I. The district court did not abuse its discretion when it determined that the case was not mooted by the federal agencies’ voluntary cessation of their allegedly illegal activities.
A. Standard of review
To start, I disagree with the majority that we must engage in de novo review of the district court’s application of the voluntary cessation exception to mootness. I have no quarrel with the distinction between constitutional and prudential mootness, which the majority thoroughly explains. Nevertheless, in my view, our precedent does not require the bifurcated voluntary cessation inquiry that the majority suggests (i.e., a de novo examination if the district court held the case to be constitutionally moot and an abuse of discretion review if it held the case to be prudentially moot). Many of the voluntary cessation decisions invoked by the majority do not distinguish between the two doctrines, and lacking explicit guidance from controlling precedent, I think that we should review district courts’ voluntary cessation decisions, whether involving constitutional or prudential mootness, for an abuse of discretion.
As the district court noted, “[w]hen a defendant has voluntarily ceased challenged conduct, in order to prove mootness the defendant has the burden to establish both (1) that it is absolutely clear that the alleged wrongful behavior could not reasonably be expected to recur, and (2) that interim relief or events have completely and irrevocably eradicated the effects of the alleged violation.” 469 F.Supp.2d. 1003, 1008 (D.N.M.2005) (citing County of Los Angeles v. Davis, 440 U.S. 625, 631, 99 S.Ct. 1379, 59 L.Ed.2d 642 (1979); United States v. W.T. Grant Co., 345 U.S. 629, 632-34, 73 S.Ct. 894, 97 L.Ed. 1303 (1953)). “As with most mootness questions, the answer depends in large part on a uniquely individualized process of prediction centered on the facts and parties of each case. Predictions must be made as to the probability of recurrence, the magnitude of any injury that would result, and the feasibility of preventing any injury by a future suit. The judgment that is made on the basis of these predictions may be shaped by the character of the plaintiff ... [and] by the character of the defendant.” 13A Charles Alan Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Edward H. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure § 3533.5, at 236 (3d ed.2008).
This fact-based, case-specific, multi-part inquiry plays to the strengths of the district court, particularly when, as here, that court had a first-hand opportunity to assess these factors over years of litigation. We should give due regard to the district court’s “feel for the case that we could not *1135match without an inordinate expenditure of time.” Cook v. City of Chicago, 192 F.3d 693, 697 (7th Cir.1999).
Thus, as the Environmental Groups argue, and the Supreme Court recognizes, we should review the district court’s determination as to the effect of the federal agencies’ voluntary cessation of allegedly illegal activities under the more deferential abuse of discretion standard. W.T. Grant, 345 U.S. at 633, 634, 73 S.Ct. 894 (“The necessary determination is that there exists some cognizable danger of recurrent violation,” based on a standard of whether there was any “reasonable basis for the District Court’s decision”); Comm. for First Amendment v. Campbell, 962 F.2d 1517, 1524 (10th Cir.1992) (reviewing whether the “district court abused its discretion” in the determination that the voluntary cessation of unlawful conduct made the case moot); see also United States v. Concentrated Phosphate Export Ass’n, 393 U.S. 199, 203-04, 89 S.Ct. 361, 21 L.Ed.2d 344 (1968) (finding in the mootness context that whether “the likelihood of further violations is sufficiently remote to make injunctive relief unnecessary ... is a matter for the trial judge ”) (emphasis added).
Other circuits agree: “Determining whether an official’s voluntary cessation from engaging in conduct challenged as unconstitutional renders a case moot calls for an exercise of judicial discretion.” Kikumura v. Turner, 28 F.3d 592, 597 (7th Cir.1994). “Although defendant bears a heavy burden when it seeks to have a case dismissed as moot, whether it should be dismissed or not lies within the sound discretion of the district court, and ‘a strong showing of abuse must be made to reverse it.’” Harrison & Burrowes Bridge Constructors, Inc. v. Cuomo, 981 F.2d 50, 59 (2d Cir.1992) (quoting W.T. Grant, 345 U.S. at 633, 73 S.Ct. 894) (citation omitted).
We define abuse of discretion as “an arbitrary, capricious, whimsical, or manifestly unreasonable judgment.” Brown v. Presbyterian Healthcare Servs., 101 F.3d 1324, 1331 (10th Cir.1996) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). I see no abuse of discretion and certainly no strong showing of such, nor do I view the district court’s careful consideration of this case as whimsical or unreasonable. Further, as explained below, I would reach the same conclusion under de novo review.
B. The voluntary cessation exception to mootness
As the district court noted, “[w]hen a defendant has voluntarily ceased challenged conduct, in order to prove mootness the defendant has the burden to establish both (1) that it is absolutely clear that the allegedly wrongful behavior could not reasonably be expected to recur, and (2) that interim relief or events have completely and irrevocably eradicated the effects of the alleged violation.” 469 F.Supp.2d. at 1008 (citing County of Los Angeles, 440 U.S. at 631, 99 S.Ct. 1379; W.T. Grant, 345 U.S. at 632-34, 73 S.Ct. 894). Under both prongs of the inquiry, I am not convinced that the defendants have carried their heavy burden.
1. Recurrence
As to the first prong of recurrence, in determining that the Environmental Groups’ challenges are moot, the majority fails to sufficiently consider the formidable burden that rests upon the federal agencies to satisfy this “stringent” test. Concentrated Phosphate Export Ass’n, 393 U.S. at 203, 89 S.Ct. 361 (“The test for mootness in cases such as this is a stringent one. Mere voluntary cessation of allegedly illegal conduct does not moot a case; if it did, the courts would be compelled to leave ‘[t]he defendant ... free to *1136return to his old ways.’”) (quoting W.T. Grant, 345 U.S. at 632, 73 S.Ct. 894) (emphasis added); County of Los Angeles, 440 U.S. at 631, 99 S.Ct. 1379; Tandy v. City of Wichita, 380 F.3d 1277, 1291 (10th Cir.2004). Although the majority acknowledges the existence of this “heavy burden,” Maj. Op. at 1116 (citations omitted), it apparently concludes that “it is ‘absolutely clear the allegedly wrongful behavior could not reasonably be expected to recur.’ ” Tandy, 380 F.3d at 1291 (quoting Friends of the Earth v. Laidlaw Envtl. Servs. (TOC), Inc., 528 U.S. 167, 190, 120 S.Ct. 693, 145 L.Ed.2d 610 (2000)). But the district court, which has a better “feel” for this epochal litigation, concluded otherwise. See Cook, 192 F.3d at 697 (“The judge acquire[s] a feel for the case that we could not match without an inordinate expenditure of time.”). Indeed, the Supreme Court has stated that the determination of the likelihood of further violations in the mootness context “is a matter for the trial judge.” Concentrated Phosphate Export Ass’n, 393 U.S. at 203-04, 89 S.Ct. 361.
The majority accurately recounts the increased “solicitude” we may afford the voluntary actions by governmental actors, Maj. Op. at 1116 n. 15, and it notes Wright, Miller & Cooper’s suggestion that the “process of prediction also is shaped by the character of the defendant — claims of discontinuance by public officials are more apt to be trusted than like claims by private defendants.” Id. (quoting 13C Wright, Miller & Cooper, supra § 3533.5, at 236, 238-39). Some courts, may “trust public defendants to honor a professed commitment to changed ways.” Id. at 1116 n. 15 (quoting Wright, Miller & Cooper, supra § 3533.7, at 319, 321); see also Coral Springs St. Sys., 371 F.3d 1320, 1333 (11th Cir.2004) (in a moot case, defendant “expressly disavowed any intention of defending” the ceased conduct).
However, whether or not public defendants are more trustworthy than private defendants, here we have no “claim of discontinuance” or “a professed commitment to changed ways.” Reviewing for an abuse of discretion or de novo, the record is clear that the federal agencies have made no similar commitment here (indeed, their refusal has been described as “dogged”), likely because it is a commitment the federal agencies are unwilling to make. 469 F.Supp.2d at 1009. The federal agencies’ only argument in support of mootness is that the Environmental Groups have not challenged the 2003 Biological Opinion. Cf. Akers v. McGinnis, 352 F.3d 1030, 1035 (6th Cir.2003) (“In the present case, as the promulgation of work rules appears to be solely within the discretion of the MDOC, there is no guarantee that MDOC will not change back to its older, stricter Rule as soon as this action terminates.”).
The federal agencies’ unwillingness to claim a commitment to change their ways does not discomfit the majority. The majority is reassured by the federal agencies’ “concrete step” in issuing the 2003 Biological Opinion, and views such a step as something more than a “mere informal promise or assurance on the part of the [governmental] defendants that the challenged practice will cease.” Maj. Op. at 1118 (quoting Burbank v. Twomey, 520 F.2d 744, 748 (7th Cir.1975)). But, in my view, the 2003 Biological Opinion seems far from the “secure foundation” for mootness that a genuine self-correction may provide. Id. at 1117-18 (quoting Wright, Miller & Cooper, supra § 3533.7, at 326 (“[S]elf-correction again provides a secure foundation for mootness so long as it seems genuine.”)). Moreover, earlier in this litigation, the federal agencies explained that even after adopting the 2003 Biological Opinion, “the legal question of Reclamation’s discretion to use Project water for endangered *1137species may well recur,” noting that the “Bureau might be unable to obtain sufficient water to comply with the [Biological Opinion’s] flow requirements.” See Fed. Supp. Br. on Mootness, 10th Cir. Nos. 02-2254 et al., p. 5.
Furthermore, I am uncertain how we could conclude there was no “reasonable basis” for the district court’s decision, W.T. Grant, 345 U.S. at 634, 73 S.Ct. 894, while also recognizing that the district court’s 2002 order “played a role in the FWS’s issuance of the 2003 [Biological Opinion].” Maj. Op. at 1117. As the majority acknowledges, the issuance of the 2003 Biological Opinion was at least “in part in direct response to the district court’s rulings.” Id. at 1131. And, if, as the court observes, “Reclamation has not abandoned its narrow view of the scope of its discretion,” id. at 1118, it is far from absolutely clear that the federal agencies have completely discontinued the practice or that the allegedly wrongful behavior could not reasonably be expected to recur. See id. at 1119; Tandy, 380 F.3d at 1291 (quoting Friends of the Earth, 528 U.S. at 190, 120 S.Ct. 693); W.T. Grant, 345 U.S. at 633, 73 S.Ct. 894 (noting that district court considers “the bona fides of the expressed intent to comply, the effectiveness of the discontinuance and, in some cases, the character of the past violations” when determining the risk of recurrence).
Here, the 2003 Biological Opinion, together with the 2003 and 2004 minnow riders, demonstrate that “Congress deliberately left the issue of discretion over [Middle Rio Grande Project] water for decision by the federal agencies and the courts.” 469 F.Supp.2d at 1009. And Reclamation, perhaps somewhat uncharacteristically, appears to shrug its shoulders at the suggestion it has full discretion. If history serves as any lesson, given the (1) federal agencies’ grudging resistance (described by the district court as their “dogged refusal”) and (2) the equivocal nature of the 2003 Biological Opinion, I believe we must agree with the district court and assume that the federal agencies may sidestep their self-mandated practices. See 469 F.Supp.2d at 1009 (“[The federal agencies] have failed to establish that it is absolutely clear that they would not return to their wrongful use of an impermissibly narrow and limited scope of discretion in future ESA consultations.”); United States v. Or. State Med. Soc’y, 343 U.S. 326, 333, 72 S.Ct. 690, 96 L.Ed. 978 (1952) (“It is the duty of the courts to beware of efforts to defeat injunctive relief by protestations of repentance and reform, especially when abandonment seems timed to anticipate suit, and there is probability of resumption.”). The district court’s well-reasoned conclusion, “together with a public interest in having the legality of the practices settled, militates against a mootness conclusion.” W.T. Grant, 345 U.S. at 632, 73 S.Ct. 894.
2. Eradication of the effects of the alleged violation
The second prong of the Supreme Court’s voluntary cessation calculus is “[that] interim relief or events have completely and irrevocably eradicated the effects of the alleged violation.” Davis, 440 U.S. at 631, 99 S.Ct. 1379. The majority concludes, I believe correctly, that the 2001 and 2002 Biological Opinions have been superseded, but the majority seems to draw the incorrect conclusion that the effects of these Biological Opinions have been eradicated. The district court acted reasonably in expanding its inquiry beyond the four corners of the Biological Opinions to the actual effects of the agencies’ conduct on the minnow’s habitat: “[E]ven though an unusually wet spring in 2005 resulted in a dramatic increase in minnow spawning, it may never be known how the agencies’ dogged refusal to consider using *1138project water in past years to prevent unnecessary river drying has affected the downward spiral of the silvery minnow.” 469 F.Supp.2d at 1010. As the recently released Rio Grande Silvery Minnow Recovery Plan observes, “Threats to [the silvery minnow] and its habitat indicate[] that it could be expected to become extinct in the foreseeable future.” Rio Grande Silvery Minnow Recovery Plan, First Revision, Southwest Region, U.S. FWS, Approved 01/15/10. Cf. County of Los Angeles, 440 U.S. at 633, 99 S.Ct. 1379 (holding that the “second condition of mootness [has been met] because petitioners’ compliance ... has completely cured any discriminatory effects of the ... proposal”) (emphasis added). Thus I conclude that the district court acted quite reasonably when it determined that the federal agencies cannot show “that the effects of the ESA violation have been completely and irrevocably eradicated.” 469 F.Supp.2d at 1010. Furthermore, even reviewing the record de novo, I would conclude that the federal defendants cannot show a complete cure of the ESA violation.
II. Reclamation must consult with FWS.
Having determined that the case is not moot, I will briefly touch upon the merits. I agree with the district court that final resolution of the legal issue concerning Reclamation’s discretionary authority over the Middle Rio Grande Project will greatly serve the public interest, and I would similarly conclude that “[i]n any future consultations under the Endangered Species Act, the Bureau of Reclamation must consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service over the full scope of the Bureau’s discretion concerning Middle Rio Grande Project operations.” Id. at 1016 (citing its April 19, 2002 Memorandum Opinion and Order (Doc. No. 371), and its September 23, 2002 Memorandum Opinion and Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law (Doc. No. 445), and its Order and Partial Final Judgment (Doc. No. 446)). Section 7 of the ESA establishes a consultation process to insure that “any action authorized, funded, or carried out by [a federal] agency ... is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species or threatened species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of [critical] habitat....” 16 U.S.C. § 1536(a)(2).
The ESA obligates federal agencies “to afford first priority to the declared national policy of saving endangered species.” Tenn. Valley Auth., 437 U.S. at 185, 98 S.Ct. 2279. The Tennessee Valley Authority Court noted statements from legislative proceedings preceding the ESA, which tellingly remain valid over three decades later: “As we homogenize the habitats in which these plants and animals evolved, and as we increase the pressure for products that they are in a position to supply (usually unwillingly) we threaten their-and our own-genetic heritage.... The value of this genetic heritage is, quite literally, incalculable .... From the most narrow possible point of view, it is in the best interests of mankind to minimize the losses of genetic variations. The reason is simple: they are potential resources. They are keys to puzzles which we cannot solve, and may provide answers to questions which we have not yet learned to ask.” Id. at 178-79, 98 S.Ct. 2279 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).
As the Court explained, Section 7 of the ESA imposes requirements upon heads of all federal departments and agencies to use their authorities to facilitate programs for the protection of endangered species. Id. at 182-83, 98 S.Ct. 2279. At the same time, those agencies must ensure their actions will not “jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species or threatened species.” 16 U.S.C. § 1536(a)(2). “The plain intent of Con*1139gress in enacting this statute was to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the cost.” Tenn. Valley Auth., 437 U.S. at 184, 98 S.Ct. 2279. When fully considering the implications of Reclamation’s responsibilities against this unambiguous backdrop, rather than cast the facts as a showdown between man and nature, we must abide by Congress’s view that “the value of endangered species [is] incalculable.” Id. at 187, 98 S.Ct. 2279 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Man has options that nature does not. There are no hardship exemptions under the ESA for federal agencies, and none is called for here. The district court’s reasoning, which modestly requires Reclamation to merely consult with FWS, abides by the plain language of the ESA.
III. The district court did not abuse its discretion when it denied the federal agencies’ motion for vacatur.
Even if the district court had no reasonable basis to find that the case was not rendered moot by the federal agencies’ voluntary cessation of the allegedly illegal activities, I continue to see the district court’s decision denying vacatur as one well within its discretion, and would affirm. 469 F.Supp.2d at 1014 (concluding that “[m]ovants have failed to demonstrate their entitlement to the extraordinary remedy of vacatur of this Court’s prior decisions”).
A. Standard of review
Vacatur is an equitable remedy, indeed, an “extraordinary” one, and the decision whether to grant vacatur is entrusted to the district court’s discretion. See U.S. Bancorp Mortg. Co. v. Bonner Mall P’ship, 513 U.S. 18, 26, 115 S.Ct. 386, 130 L.Ed.2d 233 (1994). Again, the district court is better equipped than we are to fashion equitable relief, and we afford it considerable discretion in doing so. See Boutwell v. Keating, 399 F.3d 1203, 1207 (10th Cir.2005) (noting the district court’s “ ‘considerable discretion’ in fashioning equitable remedies”) (quoting Stichting Mayflower Recreational Fonds v. Newpark Res., Inc., 917 F.2d 1239, 1245 (10th Cir.1990)); Downie v. Indep. Drivers Ass’n Pension Plan, 934 F.2d 1168, 1170 (10th Cir.1991) (“We review the application of the district court’s equitable remedy for abuse of discretion.”). The burden is on “the party seeking relief from the status quo” to demonstrate “equitable entitlement to the extraordinary remedy of vacatur.” U.S. Bancorp, 513 U.S. at 26, 115 S.Ct. 386. As Judge Porfilio said, writing for the court in our previous decision in Rio Grande Silvery Minnow v. Keys, 355 F.3d 1215, 1222 (10th Cir.2004) (“Minnow III”), when examining the moving party’s motion for vacatur, “the district court should determine whether there are unresolved issues that remain to be tried.” The district court here has made that determination, and has thoughtfully considered and denied the federal agencies’ motion for vacatur.
B. Voluntary action of the party seeking relief from the judgment below
The principal factor we consider in determining how to dispose of moot cases is “whether the party seeking relief from the judgment below caused the mootness by voluntary action.” 19 Solid Waste Dep’t Mechs. v. City of Albuquerque, 76 F.3d 1142, 1144 (10th Cir.1996) (quoting U.S. Bancorp, 513 U.S. at 24, 115 S.Ct. 386). Vacatur is ordinarily appropriate unless the losing party appealing the judgment was somehow responsible for making the case unreviewable. U.S. Bancorp, 513 U.S. at 24-25, 115 S.Ct. 386; Stewart v. Blackwell, 473 F.3d 692, 693 (6th Cir.2007) (stating that “vacatur is generally appropriate to avoid entrenching a decision rendered unreviewable through no fault of the losing party”). Thus, we have ordered *1140vacatur “when naootness occurs through happenstance — circumstances not attributable to the parties' — or ... the unilateral action of the party who prevailed in the lower court.” Chihuahuan Grasslands Alliance v. Kempthorne, 545 F.3d 884, 891 (10th Cir.2008) (quoting Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona, 520 U.S. 43, 71-72, 117 S.Ct. 1055, 137 L.Ed.2d 170 (1997) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)).
In contrast, “[v]acatur is generally not appropriate when mootness is a result of a voluntary act of a nonprevailing party.” Wyoming v. U.S. Dep’t of Agric., 414 F.3d 1207, 1213 (10th Cir.2005). To permit a party “to employ the secondary remedy of vacatur as a refined form of collateral attack on the judgment would — quite apart from any considerations of fairness to the parties — disturb the orderly operation of the federal judicial system.” U.S. Bancorp, 513 U.S. at 27, 115 S.Ct. 386; Houston Chronicle Pub. Co. v. City of League City, 488 F.3d 613, 616, 620 (5th Cir.2007) (where city “voluntarily” and “selectively” repealed ordinance, and where city did not “show[ ] its repealing the Ordinance provisions was not in response to the district court judgment,” “the equitable factors ... weigh[ed] against vacating the district court’s injunction”).
Here, FWS issued the 2003 Biological Opinion, and Reclamation adopted it. This case is similar to Tandy v. City of Wichita, 380 F.3d 1277 (10th Cir.2004), a case that exhibits courts’ reluctance to vacate opinions and orders. In Tandy, the Wichita transit system rescinded its earlier policy that had given discretion to bus drivers to deny wheelchair-bound passengers entry to an accessible bus on certain routes. Id. at 1280. We held that the challenges to Wichita’s driver-discretion policy were moot because all of the City’s buses had been retrofitted to be lift-accessible, because there were no remaining inaccessible bus routes, and because Wichita Transit had instructed its drivers to deploy lifts at all bus stops for all disabled riders. Id. at 1290-91. Reasoning that Wichita did “not present[ ] any equitable consideration which would justify vacatur despite the fact that mootness was brought about by [the transit system’s] voluntary compliance,” we declined to vacate the district court’s injunction against the driver-discretion policy. Id. at 1292.
Given the mootness determination here, as in Tandy, there is no question that FWS’s and Reclamation’s voluntary actions contributed to mooting the case. See Tafas v. Kappos, 586 F.3d 1369, 1371 (Fed.Cir.2009) (denying vacatur where “the agency itself has voluntarily withdrawn the regulations and thus set the stage for a declaration of mootness”). The majority should disentangle what it considers the district court’s incorrect analysis of the mootness issue from the vacatur issue. That the district court reached a different mootness finding is legally irrelevant to the present analysis because the district court separately and neutrally considered the vacatur issue assuming mootness. The reasons for deferring to the district court’s feeling for the case remain.
I am not persuaded by the majority’s comparison of the acts of the federal agencies here with those of the defendant officials in McClendon v. City of Albuquerque, 100 F.3d 863 (10th Cir.1996). In McClendon, we echoed the concerns of the Supreme Court when we stated that we determine the appropriateness of vacatur “on the basis of the particular circumstances.” Id. at 868; U.S. Bancorp, 513 U.S. at 24, 115 S.Ct. 386 (In deciding whether to vacate a district court decision, we must consider “the nature and character of the conditions which have caused the case to become moot.”) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). Although the ma*1141jority suggests that we “stressed” the particular circumstances inquiry in McClendon, Maj. Op. at 1129, we also heeded the “principle condition” as to “whether the party seeking relief from the judgment below caused the mootness by voluntary action.” U.S. Bancorp, 513 U.S. at 24, 115 S.Ct. 386.
In McClendon’s specific circumstances, “the parties entered a court-superintended settlement agreement designed to reduce inmate crowding in a city/county-run detention center.” Maj. Op. at 1129. During the course of the appeal, the defendants complied with the settlement agreement, and we held the appeal to be moot. We noted the circumstances to be “certainly unusual” and noted that it was “defendants’ actions in complying with the settlement agreement by creating adequate temporary space and opening a new facility that have rendered this appeal moot.” McClendon, 100 F.3d at 868. We were convinced that the defendants’ repeated efforts to comply with the agreement warranted vacatur: “defendants, who had undisputedly violated the settlement agreement ... have since voluntarily permitted inspections,” opened a new detention facility, and presented evidence that there were planned population reductions and facility expansions scheduled to preclude another emergency overcrowding situation. Id. at 867. We concluded that such “responsible government conduct” did not warrant the defendants from bearing untoward consequences, and we ordered the vacatur of certain orders. Id. at 868.
Here, as the majority notes, we also have “unique circumstances.” Maj. Op. at 1131. The federal agencies voluntarily adopted the 2003 Biological Opinion, which contains one proposal where Reclamation assumed it had “no discretion to limit contract deliveries to benefit the Minnow” and a second proposal where Reclamation assumed “discretion to limit diversions, curtail water storage, and release stored water.” Id. at 1108. Unlike the enumerated and discrete acts that the government defendants presented in McClendon, here we have only the federal agencies’ either/or “voluntary actions,” id. at 1130-31, which included adopting the non-position taking 2003 Biological Opinion. There is little assurance of follow through given the 2003 Biological Opinion’s options. The district court was correct to engage in a U.S. Bancorp analysis as to whether the federal agencies’ governmental action warranted the exceptional remedy of vacatur.
Also, I am at a loss as to why the majority “agreefs] with the federal agencies that the issuance of the 2003 [Biological Opinion] was not a major factor in the district court’s vacatur decision, but rather [the decision] turned on Congress’s enactment of the minnow riders.” Maj. Op. at 1131. The majority continues: “And, regarding that basis, we must conclude that the district court’s reasoning is even more problematic and moves us even more strongly to conclude that the court’s vacatur ruling amounted to an abuse of discretion.” Id.
The district court quite clearly stated that “[t]he mootness of the discretion rulings in this Court’s April 19, 2002 decision resulted in part from voluntary action by FWS, a federal agency, i.e., adoption of the 2003 [Biological Opinion], and in part from legislative action in the form of the minnow riders.” 469 F.Supp.2d at 1014. In light of this language, it seems difficult to dispute that the 2003 Biological Opinion was “a major factor in the district court’s vacatur decision.” Maj. Op. at 1131.
Without the agencies’ adoption of the 2003 Biological Opinion, there would most likely be no mootness of this case. 469 F.Supp.2d. at 1010. And without with the voluntary adoption of the 2003 Biological *1142Opinion there could certainly be no riders to it. The federal agencies’ actions may have mooted the case, but we must recognize that their voluntary conduct also “may disentitle [them] to the relief [they] seek[].” Sanders v. United States, 373 U.S. 1, 17, 83 S.Ct. 1068, 10 L.Ed.2d 148 (1963) (citing Fay v. Noia, 372 U.S. 391, 438, 83 S.Ct. 822, 9 L.Ed.2d 837 (1963)). While the district court attributes the voluntary action to first, the issuance of the 2003 Biological Opinion, and second, to the subsequent legislative riders, the majority focuses on Congressional action as an intervening cause without explaining the 2003 Biological Opinion, the condition precedent to that Congressional action.
Furthermore, we must not undertake de novo review of this decision not to vacate, rather we must afford it considerable discretion. Boutwell, 399 F.3d at 1207. The court concludes that “under the facts of this case, it would be unreasonable for the district court to have concluded that Reclamation has operated in a manner that should require it to labor in the future under any legal consequences that might be spawned by the district court’s (nonprecedential) 2002 orders.” Maj. Op. at 1133. It continues to note that “[v]acatur of the district court’s 2002 orders ‘clears the path for future relitigation of the issues between the parties’ and diminishes the chances that the prior orders can be used for their persuasive value against any of the parties in subsequent proceedings.” Id. (quoting McClendon, 100 F.3d at 868). The majority seems to find implicit error in the district court’s reasoning. I see no “arbitrary, capricious, whimsical, or manifestly unreasonable judgment,” Brown, 101 F.3d at 1331, in the district court’s sound fashioning of equitable relief when it denied the “extraordinary remedy of vacatur.” U.S. Bancorp, 513 U.S. at 26, 115 S.Ct. 386.
C. Public interest
Finally, because vacatur is an equitable remedy, we, like the district court, must also consider the public interest. U.S. Bancorp, 513 U.S. at 26-27, 115 S.Ct. 386 (“Judicial precedents are presumptively correct and valuable to the legal community as a whole. They are not merely the property of private litigants and should stand unless a court concludes that the public interest would be served by a vacatur.”) (quoting Izumi Seimitsu Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha v. U.S. Philips Corp., 510 U.S. 27, 40, 114 S.Ct. 425, 126 L.Ed.2d 396 (1993) (Stevens, J., dissenting)); Amoco Oil Co. v. EPA 231 F.3d 694, 699 (10th Cir.2000). Focusing its analysis on the responsible government conduct of the agencies, the majority seems to have neglected the gravity of this inquiry. “Congress has prescribed a primary route, by appeal as of right and certiorari, through which parties may seek relief from the legal consequences of judicial judgments. To allow a party who steps off the statutory path to employ the secondary remedy of vacatur as a refined form of collateral attack on the judgment would — quite apart from any considerations of fairness to the parties — disturb the orderly operation of the federal judicial system.” U.S. Bancorp, 513 U.S. at 27, 115 S.Ct. 386; cf. Wyoming, 414 F.3d at 1213 (holding that vacatur of the district court’s order was appropriate “because the party seeking appellate relief [wa]s not the party responsible for mooting the case, [and] the orderly operation of the appellate system is not being frustrated”) (emphasis added).
The district court acted well within its wide discretion when it determined that “exceptional circumstances” did not include the “disposing of cases[ ] whose merits are beyond judicial power to consider, on the basis of judicial estimates regarding their merits.” U.S. Bancorp, 513 U.S. at *114328-29, 115 S.Ct. 386. The district court emphasized the public interest and “ ‘orderly operation of the federal judicial system’ ” and followed the Supreme Court’s “rejection of] the notion that there is inherently more value in the relitigation of issues disposed of in judgments that have become moot than in the ‘benefits that flow to litigants and the public from the resolution of legal questions.’ ” 469 F.Supp.2d at 1013 (quoting U.S. Bancorp, 513 U.S. at 27, 115 S.Ct. 386).
Simply put, the public interest would not be served by erasing a decade of well-thought out jurisprudence that “may be helpful to other courts to the extent that it is persuasive.” Okla. Radio Assocs. v. FDIC, 3 F.3d 1436, 1444 (10th Cir.1993) (quoting Clark Equip. Co. v. Lift Parts Mfg. Co., Inc., 972 F.2d 817, 820 (7th Cir.1992)). As the district court aptly noted, “[t]he benefit of keeping the prior decisions intact weighs heavily because doing so prevents the uncertainty that prevailed in the past.” 469 F.Supp.2d at 1015. The majority’s approach infringes upon the district court’s discretion, which was exercised “in the manner most consonant to justice.” U.S. Bancorp, 513 U.S. at 24, 115 S.Ct. 386 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). This multi-year litigation clearly shows why our precedents have come to vest discretion in the trial judge who has so carefully and painstakingly attempted to resolve this case.