Lee v. U.S.
| Decision Date | 09 February 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 86-3651,86-3651 |
| Citation | 809 F.2d 1406 |
| Parties | James W. LEE; Ralph A. Eklund; Cora Carr; Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UNITED STATES of America; Secretary of the Interior; Director, Bureau of Land Management; Eklutna, Inc.; Cook Inlet Region, Inc., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Steven P. Oliver, Anchorage, Alaska, for plaintiffs-appellants.
David P. Wolf and Diane Smith, Anchorage, Alaska, and Edward J. Shawaker, Washington, D.C., for defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Alaska.
Before EUGENE A. WRIGHT, JEROME FARRIS and ROBERT R. BEEZER, Circuit Judges.
Lee, Eklund, and Carr claim that the Secretary of the Interior gave lands that rightfully belonged to them to two Native American groups. On a motion for summary judgment, the district court did not consider whether Lee, Eklund, and Carr actually had, or should have had, title to the disputed lands. It found that even if they did have title, they had no cause of action for return of the lands (or monetary compensation) against either the United States or the Native groups. We make no ruling on the appropriateness of this approach since the record indicates that under applicable statutes of limitations, Lee, Eklund, and Carr have failed to bring a timely suit. We therefore affirm the grant of summary judgment.
In 1950 the Federal Power Commission, acting under the Federal Power Act, set aside certain lands in the Eagle River Valley, near Anchorage, Alaska, as a possible site for future power projects. In 1952, at the request of the Bureau of Land Management, the Power Commission made a determination that the lands would not be "injured or destroyed for the purposes of power development by location or entry under the public land laws." Following that determination, the land could have been declared open to homesteading and other entry, but the Secretary of the Interior never restored the lands to the public domain.
In 1957 Lee, Eklund, and Carr each located on lands in the Eagle River Valley that included areas classified under the Power Act, with the expectation of taking title under the homesteading laws. 1 They had been told by the Bureau of Land Management that they could place homestead claims in the Valley. At the time, the region had not been surveyed, and the limits of the classified areas were not defined. The Power Commission advised homesteaders that classified areas were not available for homesteading until they were restored to the public domain by the Bureau of Land Management. Lee, Eklund, and Carr nevertheless proceeded to make some use of lands that were later determined to be within the powersite classification. The parties differ as to whether the entry upon and cultivation of classified areas by each of the three homesteaders was sufficient to create title under the homesteading laws.
In 1959, Lee, Eklund, Carr, and other homesteaders in the region sent a letter to the Secretary of the Interior pointing out that they were prevented from occupying the still unsurveyed classified lands even though the Power Commission had determined that they could be made available to homesteading. The letter asked the Secretary to "clarify" the situation, and let them know "what is going on." The Secretary's written reply informed the homesteaders that specific determinations would have to await the completion of an engineering survey, but stressed that the classified areas were not open to entry. It stated further that the Secretary had no intention of revoking the powersite classification, and that, in the event that it was revoked, a preference right to select the powersite lands might go to other groups.
In 1961 the Bureau of Land Management recorded its survey and issued final decisions rejecting the homestead applications of Lee, Eklund, and Carr insofar as they conflicted with the powersite classification. Lee, Eklund, and Carr continued to argue with the Bureau over the sufficiency of the proofs of their homestead entries and the extent of their rightful holdings until 1964, when they received patents to all of the lands they claimed outside of the powersite classification. The United States contends that the final patenting of lands to Lee, Eklund, and Carr in 1964 was a compromise in which doubtful issues of proof of entry upon unclassified lands were resolved in their favor in exchange for their relinquishing any claims to classified lands. The United States argues that Lee, Eklund, and Carr are estopped from claiming classified lands now. Lee, Eklund, and Carr contend that there is no evidence to indicate that the patenting of lands in 1964 was a compromise.
In 1971 Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 43 U.S.C. Secs. 1601-1641. In 1979 the formerly classified lands were patented to two Native American corporations, Eklutna, Inc. and Cook Inlet Region, Inc.
Following these conveyances, Lee, Eklund, and Carr each filed suit against the United States and the Native American corporations. In their amended and consolidated complaint, they claim that the disputed lands were restored to the public domain by the Power Commission's "no injury" determination, and that they gained title under the homesteading laws when they located on the lands in 1957. Alternatively, they argue that section 24 of the Power Act required the Secretary of the Interior to declare the lands open to homestead entry following the Power Commission's determination, and to recognize their title under the homesteading laws. They argue that they should now be placed in the position they would have been in if the Secretary had followed the law. On the assumption that they have title to the disputed lands, or at least that they should have been given title, Lee, Eklund, and Carr contend that:
1) They should have received patent to the lands under section 22(b) of ANCSA, 43 U.S.C. Sec. 1621(b), which provides that the Secretary shall "promptly issue patents to all persons who have made a lawful entry on the public lands in compliance with the Public Land Laws for the purpose of gaining title to homesteads ...";
2) The conveyance to the Native corporations was subject to their pre-existing rights in the lands under section 14(g) of ANCSA, 43 U.S.C. Sec. 1613(g); and
3) If ANCSA requires the conveyance of the lands to the Native Corporations despite their prior claims under the homesteading laws, ANCSA is unconstitutional.
Lee, Eklund, and Carr sought patents from the United States to the formerly classified lands and a ruling that those lands are being held in constructive trust by the Native corporations, or compensation from the United States for a constitutional taking of their property.
The district court granted summary judgment against Lee, Eklund, and Carr on the grounds that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. Lee v. United States, 629 F.Supp. 721 (D.Alaska 1985). The court found that the homesteaders and the United States had reached a compromise in 1964, 629 F.Supp. at 725, but it nevertheless examined the homesteaders' claims. The court did not decide whether Lee, Eklund, and Carr had valid title to the lands, finding instead that, even if they did, applicable law provided no cause of action and no remedies against any of the defendants.
The trial court's grant of summary judgment is reviewed de novo. Nevada v. United States, 731 F.2d 633, 635 (9th Cir.1984). The court of appeals may affirm on any ground supported by the record. City of Las Vegas v. Clark County, 755 F.2d 697, 701 (9th Cir.1984).
We do not consider whether the agreements between Lee, Eklund, and Carr and the Bureau of Land Management were a compromise in which the homesteaders relinquished their claims to the disputed lands. Regardless of whether the homesteaders would be estopped by the alleged compromise from making their claims in the courts, other factors prevent them from bringing their actions.
All of Lee, Eklund, and Carr's claims are hinged on the contention that the disputed lands were rightfully theirs under the homestead laws that were in effect when they located in the Eagle River Valley in 1957. Those claims to title turn upon whether the lands were legally opened, or should have been opened, to entry for homesteading. To prevail, they must show either (1) that the lands were automatically opened to entry upon the Power Commission's determination that the lands would "not be injured or destroyed for the purposes of power development by location, entry, or selection under the public-land laws," 16 U.S.C. Sec. 818, or (2) that the Bureau of Land Management was required by law to open the lands to homesteading, so that legal title should have passed to Lee, Eklund, and Carr.
the Lands to Homestead Entry?
Lee, Eklund, and Carr argue that the disputed lands were open to entry by virtue of the "no injury" determination by the Power Commission alone, without need of a declaration by the Secretary. Section 24 of the Power Act provides that the effect of a withdrawal continues only "until otherwise directed by the [Power] Commission or by Congress." 16 U.S.C. Sec. 818. The function of the Secretary of the Interior, they contend, is only to "declare" that the land has been opened to entry. We find nothing in the legislative history either in support of or against this reading of the section.
The United States argues that the wording of section 24 demonstrates an understanding that the Power Commission does not have the authority to open formerly classified lands. Section 24 provides that the Secretary may select the lands for other uses after a "no-injury" determination. It states also that "before any lands ... are...
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