Muench v. Public Service Commission, Defendant: Namekagon Hydro Company, Respondent: the State

Summary

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the Public Service Commission's findings under secs. 31.06 (3) and 31.08, Stats., that a proposed dam on the Namekagon river would not obstruct navigation or violate other public rights constitute a final decision reviewable under ch. 227, Stats., because the 1943 Uniform Administrative Procedure Act did not abolish existing rights of review. Any citizen who appeared at the commission's hearing on the dam application is 'aggrieved' and 'directly affected' and may petition for review, because recreational and scenic rights in navigable waters are legal rights entitled to the same protection as financial rights. The state, having appeared before the commission through the Conservation Commission and petitioned for rehearing, was entitled to intervene in the review proceedings, and the trial court's denial of intervention was error. The 1947 'county board law' of sec. 31.06 (3), which dispensed with commission findings on public rights when county boards approved a dam by two-thirds vote, violated sec. 22, art. IV of the Wisconsin constitution because public rights to fishing, hunting, and scenic beauty are of state-wide concern, and the judgment was reversed with directions to remand to the commission for findings.