Solenex, LLC v. Bernhardt, Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior: Cancellation of 1982 Oil and Gas Lease Upheld – Significant Cultural and Religious Lands of the Badger-Two Medicine Area in Montana
Introduction and Setting On June 16, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia wrote what could be the last chapter in a long-running dispute over an oil and gas lease issued by…
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Revisiting and Updating the Dakota Access Pipeline Controversy
Federal Court Orders U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to Prepare An Environmental Impact Statement[1] In a March 25, 2020 decision, issued over two and a half years after his remand of the Corps’ permitting approval authorizing construction of an oil pipeline…
Tenth Circuit Overturns BLM’s Mancos Shale Oil and Gas APD Approvals
Dine’ Citizens Against Ruining our Environment, an environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) and other environmental groups (collectively, Dine’ CARE), brought suit against the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Secretary of the Interior, challenging the BLM’s compliance with the National…
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Update on Dakota Access Pipeline Litigation
The Dakota Access Pipeline litigation was originally brought by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in 2016, quickly joined by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, to challenge construction of the Dakota Access pipeline (“DAPL”), and specifically DAPL’s crossing of the Missouri River at…
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“Black Snakes” Or Essential Infrastructure: Dakota Access Pipeline, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, The Federal Government’s Tribal Consultation Obligations, and Why This Matters
This paper was originally published by the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation in the Proceedings of the 63rd Annual Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute (2017) Introduction[1.“Black snake” was…
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Dakota Access Pipeline Project Update—Corps’ NEPA Analysis Flawed-In Part
Introduction: On June 14, 2017, U.S. District Court Judge Boasberg issued a lengthy Memorandum Opinion granting in part the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s (Standing Rock) and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe’s (Cheyenne River) Motions for Summary Judgment.1 The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) project…
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Dakota Access Pipeline Project Update
The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) project continues to be the subject of extensive news coverage and ongoing controversy. Last quarter’s Watch discussed U.S. District Judge Boasberg’s memorandum opinion denying the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction, which was immediately followed…
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New Mexico’s Mancos Shale Development: “Go Ahead” to BLM on Oil and Gas Well Approvals is Affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals
On October 27, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued its opinion in Dine’ Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment et al. v. Jewell, Tenth Circuit Cause No. 15-2130, affirming the decision of the Honorable James Browning which rejected…
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Dakota Access Controversy: Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Policy Review of Federal Government’s Tribal Consultation Obligations, and Why This Matters to Us
Introduction: The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) project has become the focal point for Native American complaints concerning the manner in which federal agencies comply with their responsibilities to engage in tribal consultation on projects in and around Indian country requiring federal approvals,…
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Reservation Diminishment: Implications for Tribal Taxing Powers over Non-Members
Introduction: Writing another chapter in its long-running book regarding whether boundaries of Indian Reservations across the country have been diminished or reduced by Congressional action, on March 22, 2016, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in[1. Nebraska v. Parker.[1.Nebraska v….
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