Confederated Tribes of the Warms Springs Reservation of Or. v. Vanport Int'l, Inc.
| Decision Date | 16 December 2019 |
| Docket Number | No. 3:17-cv-01649-HZ,3:17-cv-01649-HZ |
| Citation | 428 F.Supp.3d 384 |
| Parties | The CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF the WARMS SPRINGS RESERVATION OF OREGON, Plaintiff, v. VANPORT INTERNATIONAL, INC., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Oregon |
Albert Kennedy, TONKON TORP LLP, 1600 Pioneer Tower, 888 S.W. Fifth Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204, Joshn Newton, Tyler J. Moore, KARNOPP PETERSEN LLP, 360 S.W. Bond Street, Suite 400, Bend, Oregon 97702, Attorneys for Plaintiff
Robert D. Scholz, Samantha N. Javier, Megan L. Ferris, MacMILLAN SCHOLZ & MARKS, P.C., 900 S.W. Fifth Avenue, Suite 1800, Portland, Oregon 97204, Attorneys for Defendant
Plaintiff The Confederated Tribes of the Warms Springs Reservation of Oregon (Plaintiff or "the Tribe"), had a contractual relationship with its wholly owned commercial forest products entity Warms Springs Forest Products Industries (WSFPI), under which WSFPI purchased Tribal Timber from the Tribe. WSFPI had a contractual relationship with Defendant Vanport International, Inc. (Defendant or "Vanport"), under which Defendant operated WSFPI and purchased and/or marketed sales of Tribal Timber or lumber milled from that timber. In this lawsuit, Plaintiff seeks from Defendant the value of Tribal Timber that WSFPI purchased from the Tribe and for which WSFPI failed to make payment. Presently, Plaintiff moves for summary judgment on its single claim in which Plaintiff seeks $2,416,731, the unpaid value of the Tribal Timber. Compl. ¶ 20, ECF 1. I deny the motion.
The Tribe is a federally recognized, self-governing, sovereign Indian tribe consisting of three Indian tribal groups: the Warm Springs, the Wasco, and the Pauite. The Tribe is the legal successor in interest to the Indian signatories to the Treaty between the United States and the Tribes of Middle Oregon, which was executed on June 25, 1855, and ratified by Congress on March 8, 1859 ("the 1855 Treaty"). Pursuant to the 1855 Treaty, the Tribe ceded approximately ten million acres of its aboriginal territory to the United States and reserved approximately 640,000 acres for exclusive use and occupation of the Tribe and its members as a permanent homeland, referred to as the Warm Springs Reservation. The United States holds legal title to almost the entire Warm Springs Reservation in trust for the benefit of the Tribe or its members.
In 1934, Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934 ("IRA"), which, among other things, provided for the political organization of Indian tribes under § 16 and then, in § 17, empowered the Secretary of the Interior to issue corporate charters to tribes to enable them to conduct business. 25 U.S.C. §§ 5123, 5124. As the Ninth Circuit explained in a 1985 case, § 16 of the IRA allows tribes to organize tribal governments and adopt constitutions and bylaws. White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Williams , 810 F.2d 844, 866 n.17 (9th Cir. 1985). Section 17 then authorizes a tribe organized under § 16 to request the Secretary of the Interior to issue charters of incorporation. Id.
Under § 16 of the IRA, the Tribe adopted its Tribal Constitution. Tsumpti Decl. ¶ 6, ECF 55. Pursuant to the Tribal Constitution, certain enumerated governmental powers are vested in the Tribal Council. Id. ¶ 8. The Tribal Council has eleven members. Id. Eight members are elected positions with the three remaining positions reserved for lifetime chieftain positions, one for each of the three constituent tribes of the Tribe. Id. The Tribal Council oversees the Tribe's governmental services, including natural resource management, a court system, police, fire protection, water and sewer services, and social services. Id. Pursuant to the Tribal Constitution and the Tribal Corporate Charter, Tribal Council also exercises the corporate powers of the Tribe for economic development purposes. Id. ¶ 9.
The Tribe's Tribal Corporate Charter was issued under § 17 of the IRA on April 23, 1938. Id. ¶ 6. On April 11, 1967, the Tribal Council created WSFPI pursuant to the Tribal Corporate Charter. Id. ¶ 10 . According to the WSFPI Plan of Operation, WSFPI's original purposes and objectives included, among other things: (1) the promotion of "better and fuller development and utilization of the Reservation timber resources on a sustained yield basis"; (2) the construction or purchase of an industrial complex suitable to the manufacture of forest products from the Indian forest; and (3) the operation of the industrial complex so as to secure the maximum economic return from the timber resources consistent with providing the Tribe and its enrolled membership with education and training benefits, employment opportunities, and such social benefits as may flow therefrom. See Tsumpti Decl. ¶ 10; Id. , Ex. 5 (WSFPI Plan of Operation).1 WSFPI is a "tribal forest enterprise" as defined in the relevant regulations. 25 C.F.R. § 163.1.
Defendant is a private company, headquartered in Boring, Oregon. Paul Owen Decl. ¶ 4, ECF 68. Beginning in 2008, Defendant entered into contracts with WSFPI regarding the operation of WSFPI's sawmill and the purchase of Tribal Timber. Under later agreements between Defendant and WSFPI, Defendant was to provide export sale, marketing, and other services to WSFPI. Details regarding these contracts are set forth below.
The United States holds legal title to the Warm Springs Reservation forest lands in trust for the benefit of the Tribe and its members. See Seminole Nation v. United States , 316 U.S. 286, 296, 62 S.Ct. 1049, 86 L.Ed. 1480, 86 L.Ed. 1777 (1942) (). In a 1939 case, the Supreme Court explained:
Under the provisions of the treaty and established principles applicable to land reservations created for the benefit of the Indian tribes, the Indians are beneficial owners of the land and the timber standing upon it and of the proceeds of their sale, subject to the plenary power of control by the United States, to be exercised for the benefit and protection of the Indians.
United States v. Algoma Lumber Co. , 305 U.S. 415, 420, 59 S.Ct. 267, 83 L.Ed. 260 (1939). Before 1910, Indian tribes had no right to sell timber on reservation land but that year, Congress passed the Act of June 25, 1910 which authorized the Secretary of the Interior to provide for the harvesting of tribal timber "in such a manner as to conserve the interest of the people on the reservations, namely, the Indians." United States v. Mitchell , 463 U.S. 206, 220, 103 S.Ct. 2961, 77 L.Ed.2d 580 (1983) (internal quotation marks omitted). As noted above, in 1934 Congress passed the IRA which, in addition to allowing the political organization of tribes and creating the ability for tribes to obtain charters of incorporation, directed the Department of the Interior to manage Indian forest resources "on the principle of sustained-yield management." Id. at 221, 103 S.Ct. 2961 (internal quotation marks omitted). According to the Supreme Court, the tribal timber management statutes found in 25 U.S.C. §§ 406 - 07 and 5109, and the regulations promulgated thereunder at 25 C.F.R. Part 163, "establish the comprehensive responsibilities of the [United States] in managing the harvesting of Indian timber." Id. at 222, 103 S.Ct. 2961.
In 1990, Congress passed the National Indian Forest Resources Management Act (NIFRMA), 25 U.S.C. §§ 3101 - 3120. There, Congress expressly found and declared that "the forest lands of Indians are among their most valuable resources" and that there is "a serious threat to Indian forest lands from trespass and unauthorized harvesting of Indian forest land resources." 25 U.S.C. § 3101(1), (6). Congress also found and declared that the United States has a trust responsibility toward Indian forest lands. 25 U.S.C. § 3101(2). The Secretary of the Interior is statutorily required to undertake certain "forest land management activities" on Indian forest land, which include "all aspects of the preparation, administration, and supervision of timber sale contracts." 25 U.S.C. § 3104(a) (setting forth requirement); 25 U.S.C. § 3103(4)(G) ().
Pursuant to federal law, WSFPI, the Tribe, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) entered into an agreement governing WSFPI's purchase of Warm Springs Reservation timber. By May 2004, the timber purchase agreement was titled the "Timber Allocation and Sales Agreement" and referred to as the "Cutting Contract." Tsumpti Decl. ¶ 11; see also id. , Ex. 8 (). The named parties to the Cutting Contract are WSFPI and the Tribe. Id. , Ex. 8 at 5, § 2. The Secretary of the Interior and the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs granted "their Accommodation Approval and Consent to ensure compliance with the provisions of 25 U.S.C. § 81." Id. , § 3.
The Cutting Contract gave WSFPI the right to enter into contracts with the Tribe for the purchase of Tribal Timber which included (1) timber grown on tribal trust lands; (2) trust allotments in which the Tribe had more than a fifty-percent ownership interest; and (3) tribal fee lands within the Warms Springs Reservation. Id. at 8, §§ 4j, 5. The Cutting Contract was effective May 1, 2004 and was to remain in force through December 31, 2011, unless terminated in writing before that date with the approval of the Approving Officer, meaning the Secretary of the Interior or his/her designee. Id. at 12, § 5g. After December 31, 2011, the agreement could be renewed by consent of the parties with approval by the Approving Officer.2 Id.
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