Tom Brakke and Rhonda Brakke d/b/a Pine Ridge Hunting Lodge, and McBra, Inc. v. Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Iowa Natural Resource Commission

Summary

The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed a district court judgment invalidating an Iowa Department of Natural Resources emergency order that quarantined land formerly used as a whitetail deer-hunting preserve after deer harvested there tested positive for chronic wasting disease. The court held that Iowa Code section 484C.12 authorized quarantine of diseased preserve whitetail but did not authorize quarantine of the land itself. The court also held that the quarantine did not constitute an unconstitutional taking and concluded that the issue of reopening the administrative record was moot.

Holdings

1. Iowa Code section 484C.12 authorizes quarantine of diseased preserve whitetail, not quarantine of the preserve land itself. The DNR therefore lacked statutory authority to promulgate and enforce a rule imposing a five-year quarantine on the land and lacked authority to issue the emergency order requiring fencing and exclusion of deer from the property.
2. The emergency order did not constitute a compensable taking under either the United States Constitution or the Iowa Constitution.
3. The DNR's challenge to the district court's refusal to reopen the record to receive evidence of USDA indemnity payments was moot because the court's other rulings resolved the case.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Iowa Code section 484C.12 authorized the DNR to quarantine land formerly used as a whitetail deer-hunting preserve after diseased deer had been removed.
2. Whether the DNR's five-year land quarantine and associated fencing requirements constituted a compensable taking under the United States or Iowa Constitutions.
3. Whether the DNR's challenge to the district court's refusal to reopen the administrative record for additional indemnity evidence remained justiciable after the court affirmed the judgment on the merits.

Disposition

affirmed