Tony W. Enemy Hunter v. Acting Rocky Mountain Regional Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 51 IBIA 322 (2010)

INTERIOR BOARD OF INDIAN APPEALS

Tony W. Enemy Hunter v. Acting Rocky Mountain Regional Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs

51 IBIA 322 (06/29/2010)

United States Department of the Interior

OFFICE OF HEARINGS AND APPEALS INTERIOR BOARD OF INDIAN APPEALS 801 NORTH QUINCY STREET SUITE 300 ARLINGTON, VA 22203

TONY W. ENEMY HUNTER, Appellant,

v. ) ) ACTING ROCKY MOUNTAIN ) REGIONAL DIRECTOR, BUREAU ) OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, ) Appellee. )

Order Affirming Decision

Docket No. IBIA 08-114-A

June 29, 2010

Tony W. Enemy Hunter (Appellant) has appealed the May 14, 2008, decision of the Acting Rocky Mountain Regional Director (Regional Director), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), informing Appellant that he had to secure the consent of the remaindermen for any leases he executes for trust lands on which he holds a life estate interest.1 Appellant challenges the Regional Director’s decision, arguing that, as the life estate holder, he has the authority to make all the decisions regarding the land during his lifetime since the remaindermen’s title to the land will not fully vest until he dies. We find that the applicable regulations support the Regional Director’s decision that both Appellant and the remaindermen had to consent to and execute the leases, and thus we affirm that decision.1

Background Appellant, a competent Crow Indian,2 owned a 100% interest in several allotments on the Crow Reservation in Montana.3 On December 1, 2006, Appellant entered into a 5-year lease with Padlock Ranch Company c/o Agri Leasing, Inc. (Padlock), for Allotment Nos. 688-D and 688-H. In accordance with 25 C.F.R. § 162.500(c), BIA recorded the lease on February 11, 2008. Appellant also entered into a 5-year lease with Padlock for Allotment No. 3323 on December 1, 2006; BIA recorded that lease on May 16, 2007. See AR, Tab 8. On October 11, 2007, Appellant executed gift deeds for Allotment Nos. 688-D and 688-H, conveying those allotments to Toni Lee Pease and Tina Lynn Pease Headswift, respectively, but reserving a life estate in those lands to himself, “subject to all valid existing rights-of-way and leases in effect of record.” AR, Tab 9. The Superintendent of the Crow Agency, BIA, approved the gift deeds on October 24, 2007. On November 7, 2007, Appellant executed a gift deed for Allotment No. 3323 transferring ownership of that allotment to Fallon Lynn Falcon Fuller, and again reserving a life estate interest in the allotment to himself. The Superintendent approved that gift deed on November 8, 2007. See AR, Tab 9. The effect of the gift deeds was to convey the allotments to the recipients (who are Appellant’s family members) as remaindermen of the trust property, subject to the life estates held by Appellant. On December 3, 2007, after the gift deeds were approved, Appellant signed another 5-year lease with Padlock for Allotment No. 3323.4 This lease was not executed by Padlock nor was it recorded by BIA. See AR, Tab 8. Apparently during the process of attempting

Among other things, Crow Indians classified as competent under the Act of June 4, 1920, 41 Stat. 751, may lease their trust lands for up to 5 years for farming and grazing purposes without the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, pursuant to the Act of May 26, 1926, 44 Stat. 658, as amended by the Act of March 15, 1948, 62 Stat. 80. See 25 C.F.R. § 162.500(a). The Individual Interests Report for Appellant included in the Administrative Record (AR) identifies these allotments as Allotment Nos. 688-D, 688-H, 688-J, 3323, 3323-G, 3323-H, 3323-I, and 1119-A. See AR, Tab 12. Appellant describes this lease as a cancel/renew lease. See AR, Tab 5, “Request for review of BIA decision regarding Life Estate Holder and Remainderman Rights,” June 2, 2008 (Notice of Appeal). 51 IBIA 323

to secure this lease, Appellant learned that the remaindermen also were required to sign any leases for the allotments conveyed in the gift deeds. See Notice of Appeal. By letter dated April 14, 2008, Appellant contacted the Regional Director about the relationship between life estates and competent leases. AR, Tab 7. Appellant stated that he had issued the gift deeds to his family members in order to prevent fractionation of the allotments upon his death but had reserved the life estates to retain, among other things, his right to continue the competent leases throughout his lifetime. He asserted that he was never advised that one of the consequences of his gift deeds would be that the remaindermen would have to sign those leases. He claimed that this regulatory requirement violated his sole ownership rights as the life tenant and that, if he had known of that requirement, he would have requested that he be exempted from complying with the regulation. Appellant requested that BIA honor his original intent in retaining the life estates in the executed gift deeds. In his May 14, 2008, decision, the Regional Director explained that Appellant’s life estate entitled him to the beneficial use of the property during his lifetime, but that Appellant also held the land in trust for the remaindermen during that time. AR, Tab 6. The Regional Director advised Appellant that, as...