Gilham v. United States
| Docket Number | 2023-1507 |
| Decision Date | 08 September 2023 |
| Parties | MONTI PAVATEA GILHAM, Plaintiff-Appellant v. UNITED STATES, Defendant-Appellee |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Federal Circuit |
This disposition is nonprecedential.
Appeal from the United States Court of Federal Claims in No 1:22-cv-00728-RAH, Judge Richard A. Hertling.
JUDD JENSEN, Browning, Kaleczyc, Berry, &Hoven PC, Bozeman MT, for plaintiff-appellant.
DINA BERNICK MISHRA, Appellate Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division, United States Department of Justice Washington, DC, for defendantappellee. Also represented by TODD KIM.
Before DYK, HUGHES, and STOLL, Circuit Judges.
Monti Pavatea Gilham appeals a decision of the Court of Federal Claims ("Claims Court"). The Claims Court dismissed Ms. Gilham's complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. We affirm.
The following facts are primarily taken from the complaint filed by Ms. Gilham in this action. Ms. Gilham is a citizen of Montana and an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe. Upon her father's death, Ms. Gilham took over upkeep of the family's farming and ranching operations on tribal land within the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. In 2007, Ms. Gilham signed two contracts enrolling two parcels of land in the Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency ("FSA") Conservation Reserve Program ("CRP").
The CRP is a program that seeks to "conserve and improve the soil, water, and wildlife resources" of land enrolled in the program. 16 U.S.C. § 3831(a). The program is administered by the Commodity Credit Corporation and the FSA (both agencies of the federal government). 7 C.F.R. § 1410.1. Under the program, "eligible producers"[1]may enter into contracts with the Commodity Credit Corporation whereby the producer agrees to implement a conservation plan in return for payments to the producer. Id. §§ 1410.3(a); 1410.20; 1410.40. The regulations separately define a "participant" as "one who participates in, or receives payments or benefits in accordance with" the program. Id. § 718.2. The participant has obligations under the regulations, such as complying with the terms and conditions of the contract. Id. § 1410.20. If a CRP contract is terminated prematurely, the participant must repay all payments made under the contract with interest. Id. § 1410.32(e)(2). "[I]f the participant has a share of the annual rental payment greater than zero" the participant is jointly and severally liable for compliance with the contract and the regulations. Id. § 1410.20(a)(9).
The contracts at issue here were for the period between October 1, 2007, and September 30, 2017.[2] Representatives of the Bureau of Indian Affairs ("BIA") co-signed the contracts on behalf of the United States as trustee of Blackfeet tribal land. Ms. Gilham signed with a 100% share of the contract proceeds, while the BIA representatives signed with a 0% share. Under the agreements, Ms. Gil-ham agreed "[t]o control . . . all weeds, insects, pests and other undesirable species." J.A. 59. The agreements also provided that "[p]articipants that sign the [agreement] with zero percent interest in the annual rental payment shall not be held responsible for contract performance." J.A 63.
Around 2015, Ms. Gilham fled an abusive relationship, leaving the farm and enrolling in school in Missoula, Montana. She did not update her address with the FSA. During 2015, the FSA tried to contact Ms. Gilham at the farm address regarding maintenance that needed to be done under the contracts. According to the complaint, Ms. Gilham J.A. 23. Ms. Gil-ham admits that her "serious and traumatic life altering events prevented her from properly addressing the maintenance on her CRP acres at issue and the maintenance was not completed timely." J.A. 23. The FSA terminated the contracts in November 2015. On October 20, 2015, Ms. Gil-ham was sent a letter notifying her of the pending termination.
In 2021, Ms. Gilham requested equitable relief to allow her to retain the payments made to her under the contract from the Department of Agricultures' National Appeals Division based on "the impact of domestic violence and the resulting depression which resulted in losing her CRP contracts." J.A. 23. Ms. Gilham was apparently awarded all the equitable relief she requested, including that she was not required to repay the CRP funds she had received before contract termination.
In June 2022, Ms. Gilham filed a complaint in the Claims Court pleading two causes of action. First, Ms. Gil-ham alleged that the United States violated its duties under the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA") by (1) "fail[ing] to carry out its basic contractual duties under the CRP contracts . . . such as routine weed maintenance" which "resulted in the early termination of Ms. Gilham's CRP contract," J.A. 25, and by (2) "fail[ing] . . . to provide [Ms. Gilham with] reasonable assistance to obtain equitable relief after the contracts were terminated," J.A. 25-26. Second, Ms. Gilham alleged that the United States violated its trust duties by failing to provide maintenance under the contract. Ms. Gilham did not assert a breach of contract claim. Ms. Gilham requested a declaration that the United States failed to carry out its trustee duties, damages for "those years of the CRP contract that she was never paid following the early termination of those contracts," attorney's fees and costs, and any other just and proper relief. J.A. 27.
The government moved to dismiss Ms. Gilham's complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The Claims Court granted the government's motion, holding that "[t]he claims, as pleaded, do not rely on a money-mandating statute or regulation," J.A. 3, and that part of the APA claim and the entire breach of trust claim was also untimely.[3]Ms. Gilham appealed. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(3).
We review dismissals for lack of subject matter jurisdiction de novo. Fairholme Funds, Inc. v. United States, 26 F.4th 1274, 1284 (Fed. Cir. 2022).
Ms Gilham argues that the Claims Court had jurisdiction under the Tucker Act and erred by failing to apply the trust doctrine to the claims in her complaint, apparently arguing that the statute and the CRP regulations are money-mandating and that the Claims Court accordingly had jurisdiction.[4]
Tucker Act jurisdiction "[i]n the context of breach of duties to American Indians" employs a two-part test. Fletcher v. United States, 26 F.4th 1314, 1324 (Fed. Cir. 2022). First, a plaintiff "must identify a substantive source of law that establishes specific fiduciary or other duties, and allege that the Government has failed faithfully to perform those duties." Id. (quoting United States v. Navajo Nation, 556 U.S. 287, 290 (2009)). At this step, "[t]here must be specific statutes, regulations, or other sources of law that establish the fiduciary relationship and define the contours of the government's fiduciary responsibilities." Id. at 1325 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). If the plaintiff shows such a duty, "[t]he court must then determine whether the relevant source of substantive law can fairly be interpreted as mandating compensation for damages sustained as a result of a breach of the duties the governing law imposes." Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). We conclude that Ms. Gilham has failed to "identify a substantive source of law that establishes specific fiduciary or other duties." Id. at 1324 (citation omitted).
Section 3831 of Title 16 of the U.S. Code establishes the CRP and was originally enacted as part of the Food Security Act of 1985, Pub. L. No. 99-198, § 1231, 99 Stat. 1354, 1509. In its current form, the statute provides that "the Secretary shall formulate and carry out a conservation reserve program under which land is enrolled through the use of contracts to assist owners and operators of land . . . to conserve and improve the soil, water, and wildlife resources of such land and to address issues raised by State, regional, and national conservation initiatives." 16 U.S.C. § 3831(a). The statute describes various aspects of the program, such as what land is eligible, the maximum acreage the Secretary may enroll at any given time, and minimum and maximum durations of contracts. The statute does not mention Indian tribes or tribal land.
Part 1410 of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations implements the CRP. The regulations have some special provisions regarding Indian Tribes, see, e.g., 7 C.F.R. §§ 1410.2, 1410.62(f), though those provisions do not appear to be applicable here. In particular, the regulations provide for a "Transition Incentive Program" that provides incentives for "selling or leasing land to a . . . socially disadvantaged farmer," id. § 1410.64(e), including "American Indians." Id. § 1410.2. No party contends that the Transition Incentive Program is relevant to this case. The regulations also allow the Commodity Credit Corporation to authorize incentives to "foster opportunities for Indian Tribes." Id. § 1410.62(f). No party has cited this provision either. The only regulation Ms. Gilham explicitly cites on appeal is 7 C.F.R. § 1410.32, which requires that the contract be signed by "[t]he owners of the land," id. § 1410.32(d)(2), in this case, the BIA as the representative of the United States.
We find that the statute and regulations do not create a trust relationship.[5] First, the...
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