Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services v. Shuler Ltd. Partnership

Florida’s susceptibility to wildfires, and the State’s role in preventing them, play central roles in this case, which involves a jury verdict of $741,496.00 for damages to privately-owned timberland arising from a certified prescribed burn on state-owned lands within Tate’s Hell State Forest. Due to highly prejudicial legal errors in the interpretation of the open burn statute, the trial was unfair and a new one warranted.

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In the summer of 1998, the State of Florida suffered catastrophic wildfires, culminating in over half a million acres of land being burned, costing the state over $130…