California Ex Rel. California Department of Fish & Game v. Quechan Tribe of Indians

424 F. Supp. 969, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17971
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedJanuary 11, 1977
DocketCiv. 76-712-T
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 424 F. Supp. 969 (California Ex Rel. California Department of Fish & Game v. Quechan Tribe of Indians) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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California Ex Rel. California Department of Fish & Game v. Quechan Tribe of Indians, 424 F. Supp. 969, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17971 (S.D. Cal. 1977).

Opinion

TURRENTINE, District Judge.

OPINION AND ORDER

The California Department of Fish and Game (Department), on behalf of the People of the State of California, brings an action for declaratory relief against the Quechan Tribe of Indians. The Department seeks a declaration that it can apply California laws regulating fish and game to non-Indians who are permitted to hunt and fish on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, and a further declaration that authorized agents — game wardens — be permitted to enter the Reservation for the purpose of enforcing those laws.

The Department and the Quechan Tribe each move for summary judgment. No genuine issue of material fact remains for decision, thus summary judgment is appropriate. F.R.Civ.P., Rule 56(c). This opinion incorporates both findings of fact and conclusions of law. F.R.Civ.P., Rule 52(a). Jurisdiction exists under 28 U.S.C. § 1331(a).

President Chester A. Arthur created the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation by Executive Order January 9, 1884. 1 C. Kappler, Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties 832 (1903). The reserved lands were transferred to the Department of the Interior to be used for “Indian purposes.” Id.

The Reservation consists of approximately 8,700 acres located in both Arizona and California. The major portion of the Reservation is located in California, and only this portion is the subject of the present action. Game on the Reservation includes quail, mourning doves, white-winged doves, rabbits as well as some ducks and geese. The most significant species for hunting are the quail and the mourning dove.

*971 The Quechan Tribe of Indians resides on the Reservation, and, having been organized pursuant to the terms of the Wheeler-Howard Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (25 U.S.C. § 461 et seq.), exercises all powers of self-government. Pursuant to these powers the Quechan Tribe adopted a constitution and bylaws which were approved by the Secretary of the Interior and became effective in 1936. See 25 U.S.C. § 476. Article XI of the bylaws provides:

The [Quechan Tribal] Council shall pass ordinances for the control of hunting and fishing upon the reservation consistent with Federal laws and applicable game preservation practices.

The Tribal Council has enacted six ordinances under Article XI.

Ordinance QT — 4 (1939) requires a non-Indian to obtain a tribal trespass permit which authorizes hunting and fishing on the Reservation. Ordinance 5-60 (1960) declares non-Indian hunting or fishing on the Reservation without a valid tribal trespass permit to be a criminal trespass. A non-Indian trespasser is subject to arrest by a tribal game warden. Ordinance 8-6-64 (1964) adds that a trespasser is to be referred to the appropriate federal authority for prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 1165. The foregoing ordinances generally required a non-Indian to observe California game laws while on the Reservation. Also, possession of a valid California hunting or fishing license was a prerequisite to the issuance of a tribal trespass permit.

In 1975 the Tribal Council deleted the provisions regarding California game laws in Ordinance QT — 1-75, which reads in pertinent part:

[T]he Quechan Tribe recognizes the authority of the State of California to license hunting and fishing within the States [sic] jurisdiction but that such State license shall not be necessary for the activities of hunting and fishing on the Yuma Indian Reservation if any nonmember of the Quechan Tribe, intending to engage in such activity, obtains a proper permit to hunt and fish on the reservation.

This ordinance also closed the Reservation to all hunting and fishing by non-Indians.

Ordinance QT-4A (1975) augmented all previous ordinances, establishing guidelines as to the authority of the tribal game warden, empowering him to cite trespassers under 18 U.S.C. § 1165, and establishing procedures for disposition of charges generally. Lastly, Ordinance QT-2-76 (1976) reopened hunting and fishing to non-Indians on the Reservation.

Other than the intermittent opening and closing of the Reservation, the Quechan Tribe imposes no hunting seasons or limits on the quantity of fish or game that can be taken by non-Indians. Presently, hunting and fishing ordinances are enforced by tribal game wardens who are also commissioned as Deputy Special Officers of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior.

For at least two years before the enactment of Ordinance QT — 1—75, the Department not only exercised its jurisdiction over non-Indian hunters and fishermen on the Reservation, but also sent game wardens on the Reservation to enforce the game laws. However, just after the enactment of the ordinance, in July 1975, the Department was advised the Tribal Council would no longer require non-Indians to possess California game licenses. The Department was further advised that the Tribal Council was of the view that it had the exclusive right to regulate hunting and fishing on the Reservation, and that, accordingly, California game wardens would be arrested for trespassing if any attempts to enforce California game laws on the Reservation were made. 1

*972 In respect of the threat of arrests of its game wardens, the Department has elected not to attempt enforcement of the game laws, and those laws have not been enforced since August 1975 on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation. The present action has been commenced in order that the rights of the parties may be clarified.

Resolution of the question of the applicability of California fish and game laws to non-Indian activities on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, depends upon the respective rights and interests of the parties.

California has a legitimate interest in regulating the taking of fish and game within its borders. Bayside Fish Flour Co. v. Gentry, 297 U.S. 422, 56 S.Ct. 513, 80 L.Ed. 722 (1936); Van Camp Sea Food Co., Inc. v. Department of Natural Resources, 30 F.2d 111 (S.D.Cal.1929).

Enrolled members of Indian tribes possess the exclusive right to hunt and fish on reservation lands, where that right has not been expressly relinquished by treaty or other agreement. Menominee Tribe v. United States, 391 U.S. 404, 88 S.Ct. 1705, 20 L.Ed.2d 697 (1968); Alaska Pacific Fisheries v. United States, 248 U.S. 78, 39 S.Ct. 40, 63 L.Ed. 138 (1918); Kimball v.

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424 F. Supp. 969, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17971, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/california-ex-rel-california-department-of-fish-game-v-quechan-tribe-of-casd-1977.