The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission owns and operates 23,000
acres of land as a wildlife refuge and recreational preserve;
the preserve’s trees are essential to its use for these
purposes. Clearwater Dam, a federal flood control project, lies
115 miles upstream. Water is released from the dam in quantities
governed by a pre-approved “management plan” that considers
agricultural, recreational, and other effects downstream.
Between 1993 and 2000, the government released more water than
authorized under the plan. AGFC repeatedly objected that these
excessive releases flooded the preserve during its growing
season, which significantly damaged and eventually decimated
tree populations. In 2001, the government acknowledged the havoc
its flooding had wreaked on AGFC’s land and ceased plan
deviations. By then, however, the preserve and its trees were
severely damaged, so AGFC sued the government, claiming damages
under the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause. The district court
awarded $5.8 million in lost timber and re