A welcome sign on the Alabama-Coushatta Reservation in Texas. Photo from Alabama-Coushatta Tribe
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected a lawsuit filed by the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas. The lawsuit challenged various activities, including drilling and timber harvesting, on federal lands that have been recognized as having belonged to the tribe. The court, however, said the tribe failed to challenge any specific federal agency actions. "The tribe’s complaint fails to point to any 'identifiable action or event,'" the 5th Circuit said in the 12-page decision. "Instead, the complaint brings a challenge to the federal management of the natural resources on the land in question. The complaint contends only that all of the leases, permits, and sales administered by multiple federal agencies, including any ongoing action by these agencies that encroach on the t"ribe’s aboriginal title, are unlawful." "These are allegations of past, ongoing, and future harms, seeking 'wholesale improvement' and cover actions that have yet to occur," the decision continued. "Such allegations do not challenge specific 'agency action.'" In June 2000, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims determined that the tribe retained aboriginal title to 5.5 million acres. In October 2002, the court recommended that Congress compensate the tribe $270.6 million for the loss of its lands. Congress has failed to take action on legislation to compensate the tribe. Get the Story:
Tribe Loses Appeal Over Drilling of Its Texas Land (Courthouse News Service 7/10) 5th Circuit Decision:
Alabama-Coushatta Tribe v. US (July 9, 2014)
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