State of Idaho v. Hodel

• Decision Date: 09 April 1987
• Docket Number: No. 84-4145,84-4145
• Citation: 814 F.2d 1288
• Parties: The STATE OF IDAHO, Plaintiff/Appellee, and The Membership of the Heyburn State Park Leaseholders Association, Plaintiff/Intervenor-Appellee, v. Donald P. HODEL, * Secretary of the Department of the Interior of the United States of America, Defendant, and The Coeur D'Alene Tribe of Indians, Defendant/Intervenor-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 1288

814 F.2d 1288

The STATE OF IDAHO, Plaintiff/Appellee and The Membership of the Heyburn State Park Leaseholders Association, Plaintiff/Intervenor-Appellee, v. Donald P. HODEL, ^* Secretary of the Department of the Interior of the United States of America, Defendant and The Coeur D'Alene Tribe of Indians, Defendant/Intervenor-Appellant.

No. 84-4145.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued Oct. 9, 1985.

Submitted Nov. 1, 1985.

Decided April 9, 1987.

Robie G. Russell and C.A. Daw, Boise, Idaho, for plaintiff-appellee.

John S. Chapman and Christopher W. Clark, Boise, Idaho, for plaintiff/intervenor-appellee.

Robert D. Dellwo and Gary T. Farrell, Spokane, Wash., for defendant/intervenor-appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho.

Before REINHARDT, BEEZER and HALL, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

The Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Indians contends that the State of Idaho has violated the terms of a 1911 patent by which land formerly part of the Tribe's reservation was conveyed to Idaho for use as a public park. The Tribe appeals two decisions of the district court: a 1979 grant of summary judgment for Idaho, and a 1984 decision holding that even if Idaho breached the patent the Tribe may not exercise a power of termination. We hold that the Tribe

may pursue this appeal irrespective of its ability to exercise a power of termination, but we conclude that the Tribe is not entitled to forfeiture.

I BACKGROUND

A. Heyburn State Park

The Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation, comprising approximately 590,000 acres in Idaho, was established by Executive Order of President Grant in 1873. Pursuant to the Allotment Act of 1906, ch. 3504, 34 Stat. 325, 335, Congress authorized the allotment of 160 acres of reservation land to each member of the Tribe and opened up the unallotted lands to homestead entry.

Two years later, before the reservation was opened for settlement, Congress withdrew 6,774.65 acres of the land from settlement and allotment by the Act of 1908, ch. 153, 35 Stat. 70. The Act of 1908 authorized the Secretary of the Interior to convey the withdrawn land to Idaho for use as a public park. 35 Stat. 78, 79. The land that is now Heyburn State Park was conveyed to Idaho on June 28, 1911, under a patent setting forth the following conditions:

the lands are to be by said state held, used, and maintained solely as a public park, ... the title to revert to the United States ... absolutely if the said lands, or any portion thereof, shall not be ... so used and maintained by the state, or shall be alienated by said state; and in event of the violation by the state of any of the conditions ..., then the United States may thereupon or at any time thereafter enter upon, and into the exclusive possession of, the said lands ... and have, hold, seize, and possess the same....

(emphasis added).

The park includes within its boundaries Lake Chatcolet. In 1920, Idaho began issuing permits to maintain float homes on the lake. The State also began leasing waterfront cottage sites. The leases and permits were granted for periods of up to ten years and were regularly renewed until 1976. A lease entitled the lessee to "the exclusive right and privilege to possess and use [the site] in the manner and for the purpose hereinafter contained," but prohibited commercial use and required the lessee to substantially improve the leasehold within two years. ¹ In 1975, the Idaho legislature expressly indicated its intent to continue the cottage site leasing program on its state lands, see Idaho Code Sec. 39-3613 (1985), and imposed additional requirements on lessees primarily concerning water and sewage control, see id. Secs. 39-3609 to -3613. In 1976, there were 161 sites leased and 32 existing float home permits in Heyburn State Park covering approximately 21 acres.

In 1972, an Assistant Area Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, on behalf of the Tribe, wrote to the Director of the Idaho Department of Parks suggesting that the cottage site leasing program violated the terms of the patent, and by letter dated March 3, 1976, the Solicitor of the United States Department of the Interior informed the Idaho Attorney General that the Solicitor's Office had concluded that Idaho was "not in compliance with the conditions of the [1911] conveyance." As a protective measure in the event of a lawsuit, the Idaho Board of Land Commissioners decided on March 9, 1976 not to renew cottage site leases or float-home permits in Heyburn State Park upon their expiration. All leases and permits expired in 1981.

B. Procedural History

Idaho filed suit in federal district court on December 30, 1976, seeking a declaratory judgment that its lease and permit practices did not violate the "public park" and anti-alienation conditions in the patent. In the alternative, Idaho sought a declaration either that its decision not to renew leases and permits constituted compliance with the Department of Interior's request so as On November 9, 1979, the district court granted Idaho's motion for summary judgment, concluding on the basis of its findings of undisputed facts that Idaho had not violated the conditions in the patent. Both the United States and the Tribe appealed, but before oral argument the United States moved to voluntarily dismiss its appeal, and a panel of this court granted the motion. With only the Tribe remaining, Idaho moved to dismiss the appeal on the ground that no case or controversy existed because any property interest flowed solely to the United States. We remanded to the district court for a determination of whether the Tribe possessed a beneficial interest in the power of termination.

to avoid forfeiture, or that granting one-year leases would comply with the patent. On September 7, 1977 the United States filed a complaint claiming the practices violate the conditions in the patent and seeking to quiet title to the property. The suits were consolidated for trial and the court granted the Tribe and the Heyburn State Park Leaseholders Association (Leaseholders) limited leave to intervene.

On remand, the district court held that the Tribe does not have a beneficial interest in the power of termination. The Tribe appealed, and we reversed. While we held that the Tribe does have such a beneficial interest, we remanded for further proceedings including a determination of the nature and extent of that interest. Idaho v. Andrus, 720 F.2d 1461 (9th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 824, 100 S.Ct. 101, 83 L.Ed.2d 46 (1984). On this second remand, the district court held, by memorandum dated August 9, 1984, that under the 1911 patent only the United States, and not the Tribe, could exercise the power of termination. The court also concluded that the United States, by virtue of its withdrawal from the litigation, had manifested an intent not to exercise the power of termination. The Tribe appeals.

Therefore, two decisions below are before us: first, the district court's 1979 grant of summary judgment in favor of Idaho, and second, the court's 1984 decision holding that the Tribe may not exercise the power of termination contained in the patent.

II THE TRIBE'S RIGHT TO MAINTAIN THIS APPEAL

We have already decided that the Tribe has standing to pursue this appeal despite the withdrawal of the United States. Idaho v. Andrus, 720 F.2d at 1469-70 (1984). ² Idaho and the Leaseholders argue, however, that the district court correctly held that the Tribe may nevertheless not exercise the power of termination provided for in the patent, and that the United States did not exercise that power. We conclude that forfeiture is inappropriate; however, we base our decision on grounds different than those relied on by the district court. ³

III STANDARD OF REVIEW

Summary judgment is proper where "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). We review the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Idaho and its denial of the Tribe's summary judgment motion de novo. E.g., Ashton v. Cory, 780 F.2d 816, 818 (9th Cir.1986); Lojek v. Thomas, 716 F.2d 675, 677 (9th Cir.1983). Viewing all the evidence in the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, we must determine whether there is a genuine issue as to any material fact and, if not, whether the substantive law was correctly applied. E.g., International Union of Bricklayers Local 20 v. Martin Jaska, Inc., 752 F.2d 1401, 1404 (9th Cir.1985); Amaro v. Continental Can Co., 724 F.2d 747, 749 (9th Cir.1984).

IV FORFEITURE

A. Rules of Construction

The district court granted summary judgment to Idaho, concluding that its lease and permit practices did not violate the patent's forfeiture provision. In order to determine whether summary judgment was appropriate, it is important to understand the rules by which the forfeiture provision in the patent must be construed. Cf. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (on motion for summary judgment, evidence must be considered in light of substantive evidentiary burden).

Forfeiture provisions are not favored in the law. E.g., Humphrey v. C.G. Jung Educational Center, 714 F.2d 477, 480-81 (5th Cir.1983) (Texas law); Bornholdt v. Southern Pacific Co., 327 F.2d 18, 20 (9th Cir.1964) (California law; "general legislative and judicial hostility to divesture of properties long held by grantees" (footnote omitted)); Schlegel v. Hansen, 98 Idaho 614, 570 P.2d 292, 293 (1977). Such provisions are construed liberally in favor of the holder of the estate, and a construction which avoids forfeiture must be adopted if at all possible. See Humphrey, 714 F.2d at 480-81; Bornholdt, 327 F.2d at 20; Schlegel, 570 P.2d at 293. These rules have been applied to attempts by the United States to enforce a forfeiture provision in a grant of public land, see Oregon & California...