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FEBRUARY 28, 2001

Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway last week filed a lawsuit challenging the imposition of a 4 percent utility tax by the tribes on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana.

The company filed the lawsuit in response to a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision which struck down a similar tax imposed by the Crow Tribe of Montana. The tribe has declined to appeal its case to the Supreme Court but the Navajo Nation has a similar case pending.

Burlington Northern previously filed a lawsuit against the Blackfeet Nation of Montana. At the time, the 9th Circuit upheld the tribe's railroad tax but the Crow decision overruled it.

Burlington Northern was also involved in a tribal court dispute with the Crow Tribe. In 1993, a Crow jury awarded $250 million to the family of a tribal member killed in an an accident at a railroad crossing owned by Burlington on tribal land.

The company challenged the award and it was subsequently vacated by the Supreme Court.

Get the Story:
Rail giant files suit over tribal utility tax (The Billings Gazette 2/28)

Get the Crow Case:
Big Horn v. Adams (9th Circuit. No. 99-35799. July 2000)

Get the Navajo Case:
Atkinson v. Joe, et. al (10th Circuit No. 982247. May 2000)

Related Stories:
Tribe still considering appeal (Tribal Law 11/29)
Supreme Court to take on taxation (Tribal Law 11/28)
Crow fate may rest in decision (Tribal Law 11/28)
Crow tax dispute continues (Tribal Law 11/22)
Crow may appeal tax case to Supreme Court (Tribal Law 09/19)
Crow lose another taxation case (Tribal Law 08/10)
The effects of the Crow tax ruling (Tribal Law 07/21)
Court rules against Crow tax (Tribal Law 07/18)