Penobscot Nation Sues Maine AG over Penobscot River Sustenance Fishing

Here is the complaint in Penobscot Nation v. Schneider (D. Me.):

Penobscot Complaint

From the complaint:

By letter dated February 16, 1988, then Attorney General for the State of Maine, James T. Tierney, issued an opinion to William J. Vail, then Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for the State of Maine, stating that salmon fishing by members of the Penobscot Nation for their individual sustenance “in the Penobscot River within the boundaries of the Penobscot Reservation . . . would clearly fall within the purview of” the right of the Nation’s members to engage in sustenance fishing, free from state authority by the terms of 30 M.R.S.A. § 6207(4), the provision quoted in paragraph 13, above, and ratified by Congress in the Settlement Act. (Emphasis added.)

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By letter dated August 8, 2012, Defendant William J. Schneider issued an opinion to Defendants Chandler Woodcock and Joel T. Wilkinson, stating that the Penobscot River “is not part of the Penobscot Nation’s Reservation” and that “the State of Maine has exclusive regulatory jurisdiction over activities taking place on the River.”

Nulankeyutmonen Nkihtaqmikon v. Impson Remanded to BIA

On remand in Nulankeyutmonen Nkihtaqmikon v. Impson, the district court held that the case should be remanded to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for administrative review. This case concerns a challenge to a BIA lease granted on/near Indian lands in Maine for a liquified natural gas plant.

dct-order-8-16-08

us-renewed-motion-to-dismiss

opposition-to-renewed-motion-to-dismiss

bia-reply-brief

Earlier opinions:

dct-opinion-11-16-06

ca1-opinion