
    SIERRA PACIFIC INDUSTRIES, Plaintiff, v. The UNITED STATES, Defendant.
    No. 91-1331C.
    United States Claims Court.
    June 17, 1992.
    Wesley R. Higbie, San Francisco, Cal., for plaintiff.
    Bryant G. Snee and Sean Murphy, Commercial Litigation Branch, with whom were Thomas W. Petersen, Asst. Director, David M. Cohen, Director, and Stuart M. Gerson, Asst. Atty. Gen., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for defendant. Jeff Handy, Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., of counsel.
   OPINION

SMITH, Chief Judge.

This dispute comes before the court on defendant’s motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. Plaintiff, relying on 41 U.S.C. § 601, et seq. and 28 U.S.C. § 1491, is seeking refunds from the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture for portions of the purchase price paid for various timber sales. At issue is whether plaintiff’s failure to comply with the contractual time limitation provision for the submission of claims bars such claims.

The majority of the parties’ arguments are discussed and resolved by this court’s opinion, issued today, in Stone Forest Industries, Inc. v. United States, 26 Cl.Ct. 410. For the reasons set forth in the Stone Forest opinion, thirty-one of plaintiff’s thirty-three claims are time-barred, and the court grants the defendant’s motion with respect to those claims.

This opinion shall address two sales for which an alternative ground was given to bar the claim. Defendant argues that plaintiff’s claims on the Willow and Swift timber sales are barred because an express release was signed. These sales were closed pursuant to a timber sale closure agreement under the Federal Timber Contract Payment Modification Act. Under that agreement, the contracting parties were released from all rights and obligations under the contract. Plaintiff argues that the release is void because the regulation which mandated the release is invalid, citing Sierra Pacific Industries v. Lyng, 866 F.2d 1099 (9th Cir.1989).

This issue is identical to the Spike claim in the Stone Forest case. The court finds that it is not necessary to reach this issue because both the Willow and Swift claims are time-barred. With the Willow sale, the closure letter was sent March 7, 1986 and the claim was filed April 4,1991. With the Swift sale, the closure letter was sent March 11, 1986 and the claim was filed April 3, 1991. The claims for both sales were filed well beyond the 60 day time limitation. For the reasons set forth in Section I of the Stone Forest opinion, these claims are time-barred.

CONCLUSION

The court grants the government’s motion as it pertains to the time-barred claims. This opinion does not address those claims which are not time-barred. The parties shall file a joint status report within 60 days from the date of this opinion discussing further proceedings in this case. 
      
      . The government contends that the following claims are time-barred:
      Sale Contract # Date of Closure Date of Claim # of Days Late
      Buck Springs 020933 11/17/83 04/03/91 2663
      Buck Gulch 021303 11/18/85 04/03/91 1899
      King Wallow 021428 04/04/88 04/03/91 1033
      Barker Creek 021592 10/21/85 04/03/91 1929
      Guard 015857 07/08/88 04/04/91 939
      Big Canyon 021915 04/27/90 04/03/91 280
      Devil 021972 03/01/90 04/03/91 337
      Digger 022517 12/04/87 04/03/91 1155
      Willow 016616 03/07/86 04/04/91 1793
      Swift 022897 03/11/86 04/03/91 1788
      Mill 023127 11/02/83 04/03/91 2648
      
        Virgin 050331 02/01/84 04/03/91 2557
      Silversnake 050372 09/26/85 04/03/91 1954
      Copper Flume 050471 11/17/83 04/03/91 2633
      Eagle Helo 050497 06/02/91 04/03/91 1705
      Butter Meadows 050604 09/01/87 04/03/91 1249
      Hollowpine 051812 11/20/85 04/03/91 1899
      Prairie 051485 10/21/87 04/04/91 1200
      Highway 36 051099 10/31/84 04/03/91 2284
      Big Creek 051107 01/26/87 04/03/91 1467
      Road 051592 01/23/88 04/04/91 740
      Hank 051659 08/01/90 04/04/91 185
      Lightning 051766 01/09/91 04/03/91 24
      Sulphur Sani 051230 02/01/85 04/03/91 2191
      Millerade 051289 03/26/86 04/03/91 1773
      Horse 052020 01/18/89 04/04/91 745
      Butter Caves 051461 04/20/87 04/03/91 1383
      Wilson Point 051487 03/23/88 04/03/91 1045
      Friend 051545 07/12/88 04/03/91 934
      Buddy 052541 01/18/89 04/04/91 745
      East Resale 052616 03/17/88 04/04/91 1052
     
      
      . Defendant does not allege that the following claims are time-barred:
      Sale Contract # Date of Claim
      China Cabin 021857 04/04/91
      Dog Barker 022111 04/23/91
     