On February 27, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California rejected the Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation’s (“Quechan Tribe”) suit challenging the Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility Project (the “Project”), a wind energy project in the Sonoran Desert in California. See Quechan Tribe of Fort Yuma Indian Reservation v. U.S. Department of Interior, et al., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27069 (S.D. Cal. Feb. 27, 2013). The Quechan Tribe alleged that BLM’s approval of a Record of Decision (“ROD”) allowing an approximately 10,000 acre right-of-way over federal land for the construction of 112 wind turbines, violated the National Historic Preservation Act (“NHPA”), Federal Land Policy and Management Act (“FLPMA”), and the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), among other laws.

The Quechan Tribe’s NHPA claim alleged that BLM (1) failed to adequately identify all the historic properties prior to ROD approval, and (2) failed to adequately consult the Tribe. As to the first argument, the court found based on the administrative record that archaeological surveys were conducted in the area of direct impact, including the wind turbine construction areas, and that tribal monitors were invited to participate and did participate in the surveys. Id. at *14-19. The court also rejected the Quechan Tribe’s failure to consult claim and found instead that “the administrative record reveals many attempts, starting regularly in 2010, were made by BLM to engage the Tribe in Section 106 government to government consultation.”