White Mountain Apache Tribe v. United States

20 Cl. Ct. 371, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 183, 1990 WL 60712
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedMay 9, 1990
DocketNo. 22-H
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 20 Cl. Ct. 371 (White Mountain Apache Tribe v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
White Mountain Apache Tribe v. United States, 20 Cl. Ct. 371, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 183, 1990 WL 60712 (cc 1990).

Opinion

ORDER

NETTESHEIM, Judge.

BACKGROUND

On February 6, 1987, this court entered an opinion awarding plaintiff White Mountain Apache Tribe of Arizona (“plaintiff”) $5,424,429.00 for its claims for mismanagement of its water, rangeland, and timber resources. White Mountain Apache Tribe [373]*373v. United, States, 11 Cl.Ct. 614 (1987). The opinion also provided that entry of judgment on the award should be deferred until judgment could enter on all plaintiff’s claims comprehended by Docket No. 22-H. For over two years, the parties have engaged in developing the remaining “fiscal” or “accounting” claims. A scheduling order entered on February 6, 1987, on plaintiff’s accounting claims, calling for a joint proposal to enable review of documentation, settlement discussions, and trial by specified dates. Separate proposals were filed by May 11, 1987. Plaintiff’s proposal listed claims to which defendant objected. On June 26,1987, the court orally ruled on the claims. Defendant was to submit a proposed order memorializing the ruling. After some time defendant submitted the order, to which plaintiff acceded as to form only, and the order entered on December 4, 1987. With parameters established by this ruling, as well as this court’s earlier orders on the allowability of plaintiff’s accounting claims reported as White Mountain Apache Tribe v. United States, 9 Cl.Ct. 158 (1985) (order granting and denying motion for summary judgment on exceptions to accounting); 9 Cl.Ct. 1 (1985) (order limiting supplemental accounting); 4 Cl.Ct. 586 (1984) (order on objections to 1978 trial on accounting issues), the parties commenced structured settlement discussions, reporting at periodic status conferences.

On December 1, 1988, an order entered adopting the parties’ proposed schedule for consideration of plaintiff’s proposals for settling all fiscal issues. This scheduling order contemplated submission to defendant of individual settlement proposals with regard to IMPL or POL (Indian Money Proceeds of Labor) accounts, IIM (Individual Indian Money) accounts, and railroad mill stumpage claims, with an overall settlement proposal to be submitted by June 1, 1989. This approach did not settle the remaining claims. At a status conference held on November 28, 1989, the parties reported that impediments to a global settlement were the disparate legal positions as to specified claims. It was agreed that resolution of the impasse would be assisted by the court’s ruling on plaintiff's claims. To that end, on November 28, 1989, an order entered directing plaintiff to list its fiscal claims and allowing defendant to file a motion to limit these claims and address the recoverability of interest as a generic issue. On January 31, 1990, Defendant’s Motion in Limine and Motion To Dismiss with Respect to Plaintiff’s Fiscal Claims were filed. This opinion addresses defendant’s motions after argument.

The vintage of this case — 1948—and the number of published judicial utterances by this judge alone — 10 since 1984 — warrant a peroration to address a concern that has nothing to do with the merits of plaintiff’s claims, but, rather, the prospect of negotiated resolution in lieu of trial. A negotiated resolution of plaintiff’s claims has been the stated objective of both parties since early 1987. However, plaintiff’s misapprehension of the type of claim that remains for resolution is entirely inconsistent with a realistic prospect of achieving some success by way of negotiation. The list of fiscal claims filed on January 9, 1990, includes several claims that were rejected in the 1987 opinion dealing with plaintiff’s claims for mismanagement of resources. For example, plaintiff seeks damages on the theory that the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation was created and used for the benefit of the downstream non-Indian water users. After having been litigated fully, this claim was rejected at 11 Cl.Ct. 642-47. Another claim is tantamount to a motion for reconsideration of the order entered on December 15, 1987, barring plaintiff from pursuing its claim for the value of timber cut from 16,000 acres excluded from the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation by an allegedly erroneous survey. The December 4, 1987 order rejected for the second time three other claims plaintiff included in its January 9, 1990 list — plaintiff’s claim for an accounting pursuant to the Colyer agreement (also rejected in 1985 in 9 Cl.Ct. at 2-3); a claim for misuse of funds appropriated by Congress (also rejected in 9 Cl.Ct. at 161-63); and a claim for proceeds from sale of lumber deposited in the IMPL-Agency account (1920-1946) (also rejected in 11 Cl.Ct. at 673-74).

[374]*374DISCUSSION

Defendant moved in limine for aii order barring plaintiff from pursuing any fiscal claims except those for IMPL or POL and IIM disbursements on the grounds that some have been barred by previous orders1 or by the statute of limitations or were subsumed in other claims not barred. Alternatively, if its motion in limine were denied, defendant sought dismissal of all of plaintiffs claims seeking interest as damages.

I. Statute of limitations

Paragraph 6 of the petition filed February 2, 1948, framed plaintiff’s accounting claims, as follows:

That defendant undertook by Section 17 of the Act of September 9, 1850 and Section 7 of the Act of February 27, 1851, aforementioned, by the aforesaid Treaty of July 1, 1852, by the Treaty of July 27, 1853, concluded at Ft. Atkinson, Indian Territory between the United States and the C[o]manche, and Kiow[a], and Apache tribes, which treaty was duly ratified by the Senate on April 12, 1854 and proclaimed by the President of the United States on February 12, 1855, to protect the interests of plaintiffs in lands and other tribal property, as a trustee, but has instead permitted and encouraged divers private parties to enter into the area owned by the plaintiffs and to use the lands and waters and the products thereof and to exclude the plaintiffs therefrom, has neglected to collect rentals, fees, and damages due to the plaintiffs, has expended funds held in trust for plaintiffs for purposes other than benefit to the plaintiffs, has sold and given away lands and other property of plaintiffs, and has not accounted to plaintiffs for the receipts derived from such sales and leases, all to the great damage of the plaintiffs.
WHEREFORE PLAINTIFFS PRAY that an account be taken of the Government of the United States from July 1, 1852 until August 13, 1946, that the account shall set out what lands and other tribal property have been taken from the plaintiffs by the defendant, taken by private persons acting without restraint from the defendant, or disposed of by the defendant without compensation to the plaintiffs, that the defendant be required by decree of this court to account for and pay over to plaintiffs all damages the plaintiffs may have suffered or sustained thereby, and for such other relief as to this court may seem just.

(Emphasis added; footnote omitted.)

Section 12 of the Indian Claims Commission Act of 1946, Pub.L. No. 726, 60 Stat. 1049, 1052 (1946) (codified at 25 U.S.C. § 70k (1976)) (omitted from Code pursuant to Commission termination on Sept. 30, 1978), bars claims that have not been “presented” within five years after August 13, 1946. White Mountain Apache Tribe v. United States, 8 Cl.Ct.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
20 Cl. Ct. 371, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 183, 1990 WL 60712, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/white-mountain-apache-tribe-v-united-states-cc-1990.