Feds appeal Navy land verdict

In a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Reno, the government wants a judge to overturn the jury's decision to give Ed Slawinski $471,968 for 590 acres he once owned in Dixie Valley.

The government claims the award was excessive and the jury failed to render a verdict based on the evidence, the Lahontan Valley News and Fallon Eagle Standard reported.

Slawinski, 81, who now lives in Camarillo, Calif., said he thought his 13-year battle with the government was over when the jury ruled in his favor earlier this month.

The fight centered on the price for his Dixie Valley land after Fallon Naval Air Station officials announced plans to put in an electronic war range and acquire 6,700 acres in the area through eminent domain.

Slawinski was offered $135,000 for the acreage in 1985, but insisted the land would have appreciated had not the Navy announced its plans that year.

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