After years of concerns raised by Indian law practitioners and tribal leaders alike, the rules under which the Secretary of the Department of the Interior accepts lands in trust for federally recognized Indian tribes have...more
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), in an effort to improve and streamline the tribal land acquisition application process, recently announced changes to the pertinent federal regulations, 25 CFR Part 151. Prior to the...more
On Oct. 25, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request to extend the stay ordered in West Flagler Associates, Ltd. v. Haaland. It is unclear if any justice supported the request to extend the stay. This means that West...more
On January 18, 2023, the Province of British Columbia (Province) and the Blueberry River First Nation (BRFN) signed the Blueberry River First Nation Implementation Agreement (Implementation Agreement)....more
Recent proposed regulations seek to streamline and reduce costs for tribal land into trust applications and clarify parameters for negotiation and approval of tribal-state gaming compacts. The administrative process by...more
On December 5, 2022, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) published proposed revisions to 25 C.F.R. Part 151—the regulations governing the United States’ discretionary acquisition of land in trust for the...more
On November 16, the Solicitor for the U.S. Department of the Interior issued Opinion M-37076, clarifying that the Secretary of the Interior does in fact have authority to acquire land in trust within the State of Alaska. The...more
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has proposed revising the regulations governing the acquisition of land into trust for Indian tribes. The proposed revisions, if adopted, would streamline the fee-to-trust process and eliminate...more
On April 6, 2022, Minnesota’s Supreme Court in Lori Dowling Hanson v. State of Minnesota, Department of Natural Resources affirmed the lower courts’ summary dismissal of a Minnesota Whistleblower Act (“MWA”) claim brought by...more
On April 26, 2022, the Arizona Supreme Court issued a significant unanimous decision addressing the applicability of a state ad valorem property tax on a power plant located on Indian land. The Arizona Supreme Court held that...more
The Minnesota Supreme Court recently reaffirmed the use of the familiar McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework to analyze claims of retaliation under Minnesota law, despite the ask by the plaintiff-appellant and amici to...more
On October 7, 2021, the Blueberry River First Nation (BRFN) and the Province of British Columbia (Province) reached an initial agreement in response to the recent court decision in Yahey v British Columbia [Yahey]. The...more
Earlier this week, President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R.3684) into law. On Nov. 5, the House passed the bill by a vote of 228-206. Thirteen Republicans joined most...more
As we reported previously, Connecticut enacted legislation on May 25, 2021, authorizing retail and online sports betting, online casino gaming and online daily fantasy sports, to be offered exclusively by the Connecticut...more
On July 12, 2021, Washington Governor Jay Inslee approved amended state-tribal gaming compacts with 15 of the state’s Indian Tribes that would allow the Tribes to offer retail and online sports betting on the premises of...more
The First Appellate District held that tribal sovereign immunity bars a quiet title action to establish a public easement for coastal access on property owned by an Indian tribe. Self v. Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community, 60...more
On June 23, 2021, the Ninth Circuit in Deschutes River All. v. Portland Gen. Elec. became the first court in the country to hold that Congress did not clearly and unambiguously waive tribal sovereign immunity under the Clean...more
In a decision that impacts entities and individuals doing business in Indian Country, the Arizona Court of Appeals sided with the Taxpayer in its challenge to the state and county’s power to tax property on tribal land in the...more
The Secretary of the Interior issued Order Number 3400 on April 27, concerning the delegation of authority for non-gaming fee-to-trust land acquisitions concerning off-reservation Tribal lands. The Department of...more
Fee-to-trust, sometimes also called land-into-trust, is the process by which tribes can have land taken into trust by the federal government. Congress authorized the Department of the Interior (DOI) to take land into trust...more
The day after the inauguration, the Acting Secretary of Interior issued Order No. 3395, Temporary Suspension of Delegated Authority, suspending the delegation of authority to all Department of Interior Bureaus and Offices,...more
United States v. Cooley, No. 19-1414: Whether the lower courts erred in suppressing evidence on the theory that a police officer of an Indian tribe lacked authority to temporarily detain and search respondent, a non-Indian,...more
On Sept. 3, the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, Division of Energy and Mineral Development (DEMD) issued a solicitation for grant proposals for technical assistance funding to identify, evaluate or assess...more
With storage pressure and pandemic-reduced demand driving oil prices into freefall, lessees of federal and Indian lands may consider turning to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) procedures...more
CLIENT ALERT: FAR Council Changes Rules Regarding Small Business Rerepresentation / Recertification and Multiple Award Contracts - On February 27, 2020, the FAR Council published a final rule that amends the Federal...more