April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 34

L AW R E V I E W

Governmental Immunity for
Deadly Mountain Goat
By James C. Kozlowski, J.D., Ph.D.

U

nder the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), the federal government in
general, and the National Park Service in particular, is held liable for
negligence under the state law of the jurisdiction where an injury occurs. Immunity from liability, however, is retained under the FTCA
discretionary function exception. In general, immune discretionary functions include governmental decisions grounded in social, economic and political policy
considerations. For federal agencies that provide resource-based public recreational
opportunities, such immune discretionary functions usually involve an exercise of
agency discretion in balancing resource preservation and visitor safety.
States and local governmental entities in many jurisdictions have similar statutory immunity that precludes
negligence liability under an applicable state tort claims act for agency
decisions that involve an exercise of
discretion and judgment in balancing
resource protection and public safety
in public parks and recreation.
As illustrated by the case described

32	 Parks & Recreation

herein, under the FTCA discretionary function exception, the National
Park Service was found immune for
alleged negligence in the management of aggressive wildlife in Olympia National Park.
When Goats Attack
In the case of Chadd v. United States
of America, National Park Service, 794

| A P R I L 2 0 1 6 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

F.3d 1104; 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS
12943 (9th Cir. 7/27/2015), the issue
before the federal appeals court was
whether the National Park Service
could be sued for negligence under
the FTCA after a mountain goat attacked and killed a visitor to Olympic
National Park.
Established in 1938, Olympic National Park ( " Olympic " or the " park " )
spans 922,650 acres and hosts 3 million visitors each year. Among the
many species of animal residing in
Olympic is the mountain goat, which
is not native to the area, having been
introduced into the park decades ago.
Mountain goats possess dangerously sharp horns and males typically
weigh around 242 pounds. Prior to
the incident in this case, there had



April 2016 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2016 - Parks & Recreation

April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 1
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 2
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 3
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 4
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 5
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 6
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 7
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 8
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 9
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 10
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 11
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 12
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 13
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 14
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 15
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 16
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 17
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 18
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 19
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 20
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 21
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 22
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 23
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 24
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 25
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 26
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 27
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 28
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 29
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 30
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 31
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 32
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 33
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 34
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 35
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 36
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 37
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 38
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 39
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 40
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 41
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 42
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 43
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 44
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 45
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 46
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 47
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 48
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 49
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 50
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 51
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 52
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 53
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 54
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 55
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 56
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 57
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 58
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 59
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 60
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 61
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 62
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 63
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 64
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 65
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 66
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 67
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 68
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 69
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 70
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 71
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 72
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 73
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 74
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 75
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 76
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 77
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 78
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 79
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 80
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 81
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 82
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 83
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 84
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 85
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 86
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 87
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 88
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 89
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 90
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 91
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 92
April 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 93
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2009
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2009
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com