allotment leases

Federal Court Complaint in Turtle Mountain Reservation Leasing Dispute

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the complaint in Grenier v. Delorme (D.N.D.):

1 Complaint + Exhibits

An excerpt:

On or about March 18, 2010, Plaintiffs and Defendant entered into a ten – year Lease of Real Estate (“Lease”) for Defendant’s land located at tract number 324-5065 and described as E/2NE/4, of Section 3, Township 161 N., Range 71 W., Rolette County, North Dakota. This land is not located on the Turtle Mountain Reservation, but is trust land. A  copy of the Lease is attached hereto as Exhibit A. Prior to entering into the Lease, Plaintiffs had farmed the land subject to the Lease for over thirty years.

 

Trial Court Orders in Wapato Heritage LLC v. United States — Allotment Case

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here are the opinions out of the Eastern District of Washington:

Wapato Heritage DCT Order Granting Partial Summary J

Wapato Heritage DCT Order to Dismiss

An excerpt:

On May 19, 2006, Plaintiff submitted to Defendant a proposed “Replacement Lease” for MA-8, which would run for a term of 99 years and allow housing development on part of MA-8. In order to secure approval of the Replacement Lease, Plaintiff needed to obtain the consent of a majority of the beneficial owners of MA-8. To that end, Plaintiff and the BIA scheduled a number of meetings in the summer of 2006 with Indian landowners to provide information about the Replacement Lease. During the summer of 2006, Plaintiff asserted that a majority of beneficial owners had consented to the Replacement Lease, and included its own approximately 24% ownership interest in calculating that majority. Plaintiff’s interest is a life estate, with the remainder reverting to the Colville Confederated Tribes (“Tribe”).