Rancheria v. Bonham

872 F. Supp. 2d 964, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75731, 2012 WL 1965779
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedMay 31, 2012
DocketNo. C-11-6710 EMC
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 872 F. Supp. 2d 964 (Rancheria v. Bonham) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rancheria v. Bonham, 872 F. Supp. 2d 964, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75731, 2012 WL 1965779 (N.D. Cal. 2012).

Opinion

[966]*966ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS

EDWARD M. CHEN, District Judge.

Plaintiffs are Resighini Ranchería, a federally recognized Indian tribe, and two of its members, Gary Dowd and Frank Dowd. They have filed suit against Defendant Charlton H. Bonham, both in his individual capacity and in his official capacity as the director of the California Department of Fish and Game (“DF & G”). Essentially, Plaintiffs seek a declaration that they are entitled to fish on the Klamath River within the old Klamath River Reservation/Extension and an injunction barring the DF & G from citing members of the tribe for fishing in that area. Mr. Bonham has moved to dismiss, arguing that Plaintiffs have no standing to sue.

I. FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

As indicated above, Plaintiffs basically want to be able to fish on the Klamath River within the old Klamath River Reservation/Extension without being cited. The area where Plaintiffs want to fish is not within the Resighini Reservation but rather within the reservation of another Indian tribe, ie., the Yurok Tribe.

The evidence of record indicates that action was taken against both Gary Dowd and Frank Dowd for fishing in that area. That action, however, was not taken by DF & G but rather by Yurok police officers— Josh Davis and Thorin McCovey — who are also cross-deputized as Del Norte County sheriffs. See Docket No. 11 (McQuillen Decl. ¶¶ 3-4) (testifying that individuals are Yurok police officers); Docket No. 11 (Banko Decl. ¶¶ 4-6) (testifying that individuals are also cross-deputized as Del Norte County sheriffs but are not employed by DF & G).

More specifically, on August 29, 2010, the Yurok Police Department seized fishing equipment owned by Gary Dowd. The Yurok Police Department offense/incident report, prepared by Officer Davis, indicated that Gary Dowd had violated both tribal ordinances (the Yurok Harvest Management Plan) and the California Fish & Game Code.1 It appears that Officer Davis forwarded the information to both the Yurok Tribal Court and the Del Norte County District Attorney’s Office. See Docket No. 11 (McQuillen Decl., Ex. A) (offense/incident report).

Approximately a year later, on September 16, 2011, the Yurok Department of Public Safety issued a notice to appear to Frank Dowd. The notice, which was filled out by Officer McCovey, stated that Frank Dowd was an “ineligible fisher,” had “no tribal I.D.,” and had violated the California Fish & Game Code.2 The notice directed Frank Dowd to appear before the Del Norte Superior Court. See Docket No. 12 (Frank Dowd Decl., Ex. A) (notice). Prior to the appearance, the Del Norte District Attorney’s Office decided not to pursue a case against Frank Dowd because there was insufficient evidence to prove that the crime had occurred.” Docket No. 12 (Marston Decl., Ex. A) (disposition document).

A few weeks before the incident involving Frank Dowd, Lester Marston, general counsel for the Resighini Tribe (and also litigation counsel of record) sent a letter to John McCamman, then-Director of DF & G, asserting that, “[rjecently, California Fish and Game wardens cited members of [967]*967the Tribe for fishing on areas of the Klamath River not within the boundaries of the [Resighini] Reservation, but within the boundaries of the Old Klamath River Reservation.” Docket No. 12 (Marston Deck, Ex. B) (letter). Mr. Marston asked the Director to “instruct all [DF & G] officers that [DF & G] has no jurisdiction to enforce the Fish and Game Code against members of the [Resighini] Tribe fishing within the Indian country created by the establishment of the Klamath River Reservation.” Docket No. 12 (Marston Deck, Ex. B) (letter). Mr. Marson also asked the Director to advise “whether State Game Wardens will be enforcing the State’s Fish and Game Code against members of the [Resighini] Tribe while fishing within that portion of the Klamath River lying within the boundaries of the Klamath River Reservation.” Docket No. 12 (Marston Deck, Ex. B) (letter).

A few weeks after the Frank Dowd incident was resolved, general counsel for the DF & G responded to Mr. Marston’s letter. General counsel stated that, back in 2008 DF & G had been contacted by the Yurok Tribe about

similar assertions by members of the Resighini Ranchería. The Yurok were concerned because salmon are fully allocated among the Yurok and Hoopa Tribes and non-Indian fishing interests pursuant to the Magnuson Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 1801, 1851), and the Yurok did not want the Resighini’s take of fish to be counted against the Yurok tribal allotment.
The [DF & G] consulted with the Office of the Attorney General and concluded the Resighini Ranchería and its members do not have any aboriginal or reserved rights to fish in the Klamath River. The 1988 Hoopa-Yurok Settlement Act (Settlement Act), which partitioned the former joint reservation into the Yurok Reservation and the Hoopa Valley Reservation, expressly excluded the Resighini Reservation from the new Yurok Reservation unless the Ranchería voted to extinguish their tribe and their reservation and become part of the Yurok Reservation. The Resighini Ranchería declined to merge with the Yurok Tribe under section 11(b) of the Settlement Act, and instead opted to accept section 6(d) individual lump sum payments. As a result, only current members of the Yurok Tribe are beneficiaries of the reserved fishing rights that attach to the present day Yurok Reservation.
While the [DF & G] generally does not have authority to enforce state fishing-regulations against Indians on their own reservations, the [DF & G] may criminally enforce the Fish and Game Code against Resighini members on the Yurok Reservation in the same manner as it regulates non-Indian fishing on the reservation.

Docket No. 12 (Marston Deck, Ex. C).

A few months later, Plaintiffs initiated the case at bar.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Legal Standard

“Article III of the Constitution limits the ‘judicial power’ of the United States to the resolution of ‘cases’ and ‘controversies.’ ” Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church & State, Inc., 454 U.S. 464, 471, 102 S.Ct. 752, 70 L.Ed.2d 700 (1982).

To satisfy the “case” or “controversy” requirement of Article III, which is the “irreducible constitutional minimum” of standing, a plaintiff must, generally speaking, demonstrate that he has suffered “injury in fact,” that the injury is “fairly traceable” to the actions of the defendant, and that the injury will likely be redressed by a favorable decision. Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560-61, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d [968]*968351 (1992); Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc.,

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Bluebook (online)
872 F. Supp. 2d 964, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75731, 2012 WL 1965779, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rancheria-v-bonham-cand-2012.