Carson's Washington, D.C., law firm files injunction

Carson City may not have enough time to stop the auction of 144 acres by the Bureau of Land Management in northern Douglas County.

Federal court judges have 20 days to hold a hearing on a request for a preliminary injunction, filed Thursday, that would stop BLM from selling the land before the city's lawsuit against it is resolved.

The auction, however, is scheduled for Aug. 6 -- only 12 days away.

Carson City, led by one of the nation's top environmental law firms, filed a request for injunction in Washington, D.C., after lawyers from the U.S. Department of Justice officially informed the city's counsel that the auction would not be voluntarily delayed.

"We're just out of time," said Mark Forsberg, Carson's chief deputy district attorney, after a time limit set by the city for BLM to postpone the auction passed Wednesday.

Carson has already spent a reported $130,000 in legal fees to protest the sale and file a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior and BLM officials in Nevada.

The firm handling Carson's legal actions is one of the leading environmental law firms in the nation. Latham & Watkins, with more than 1,400 lawyers worldwide, is well-known for experience in all aspects of environmental law.

Carson's attorney, Janice M. Schneider, is a senior associate in the Environment, Land & Resources Department of the Washington office. She helped draft the National Environmental Policy Act and has practiced law with the U.S. Department of the Interior, as a litigator with the Department of Justice. Schneider also served as a counselor to the deputy secretary of the Interior.

Schneider filed a motion for preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order Thursday afternoon. The local rules of the U.S. District Court in Washington give federal defendants five days to respond to motions, and a hearing must be set no later than 20 days after the filing.

The court application asks that if the court is not able to resolve the motion for preliminary injunction before the close of business on Aug. 5, a temporary restraining order must be issued.

". . . Absent a temporary restraining order pending resolution of the request for a preliminary injunction suspending the sale, Carson City and its residents will suffer immediate and irreparable harm," the motion states.

In a lawsuit filed July 18 and in Thursday's motion, Carson argues BLM "fast tracked" the auction and the city's protest against the auction and violated several federal environmental land acts.

The city contents BLM did not fully investigate environmental and economic impacts or provide a plan to mitigate impacts resulting from the sale.