FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION NOV 17 2010
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
GREATER YELLOWSTONE No. 09-35753
COALITION; et al.,
D.C. No. 4:08-cv-00388-MHW
Plaintiffs,
and MEMORANDUM *
ASHLEY CREEK PROPERTIES, L.L.C.,
Petitioner-intervenor -
Appellant,
v.
BRENT LARSON, Supervisor, Caribou-
Targhee National Forest, in his official
capacity; et al.,
Defendants,
UNITED STEELWORKERS LOCAL
632; et al.,
Defendant-intervenors,
and
J.R. SIMPLOT COMPANY,
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
Defendant-intervenor -
Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Idaho
Mikel H. Williams, Magistrate Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted October 6, 2010
Seattle, Washington
Before: B. FLETCHER, TASHIMA and THOMAS, Circuit Judges.
Ashley Creek Properties, L.L.C., appeals the district court’s denial of its
motion to intervene. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we
affirm.
Ashley Creek sought to intervene in this lawsuit filed by Greater
Yellowstone Coalition, National Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and
Defenders of Wildlife to enjoin the expansion of J.R. Simplot Company’s Smoky
Canyon Mine. Early in the lawsuit, the district court granted intervenor status to
Simplot as well as to various Idaho and Wyoming cities and counties, United
Steelworkers Local 632, and the Idaho Farm Bureau Association. Ashley Creek
sought repeatedly, albeit unsuccessfully, amicus curiae status.
This court instructed the district court to conduct expedited briefing on the
final merits of the case. The conservancy groups, Simplot, and the federal agencies
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all moved for summary judgment. Pursuant to this court’s instructions, the district
court issued an expedited scheduling order.
After the expedited briefing on the summary judgment motions had been
completed and three weeks before the district court’s scheduled decision, Ashley
Creek moved to intervene. The district court did not abuse its discretion in holding
that Ashley Creek’s motion to intervene was not timely. See League of United
Latin Am. Citizens v. Wilson, 131 F.3d 1297, 1302, 1308 (9th Cir. 1997) (holding
that timeliness is a threshold requirement for both intervention as of right and
permissive intervention).
AFFIRMED.
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