U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason on Wednesday vacated Assistant Secretary Bryan Newland’s decision to place into trust a 787-square-foot parcel of land in downtown Juneau owned by the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indians.
The Court found that even though the Secretary may create trust land in Alaska, the Assistant Secretary’s decision regarding this specific parcel was “arbitrary and capricious” and “contrary to the law.” Although not deciding the issue, the Court also expressed concern over the federal agency’s position that it can create reservations in Alaska, recognizing that the agency’s position is clearly in “tension” with the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
“We filed this litigation because of the patchwork it would create with enclaves of reservations scattered through the state,” said Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor. “The judge’s decision today ensures that, for the time being, that is not happening. The agency’s decision was vacated, and the agency will have to address some pretty major hurdles in order to grant an application in the future. What the decision did not do was provide the clarity and finality that the State was ultimately seeking.”
In the decision challenged by the State, the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, Bryan Newland, granted a petition to take lands located in downtown Juneau into trust to create Indian country. The State challenged this action because the Assistant Secretary had decided to administratively alter the balance of territorial jurisdiction in Alaska without clear authority from Congress.
“On the one hand, the Court definitely struggled with the language in ANCSA that eliminated the reservation system and seemed to indicate that reservations are not permitted in Alaska. On the other hand, the Court still held that lands can be taken in trust. Because this decision ultimately seems to raise more questions than answers, we will need some time to thoroughly evaluate it before determining next steps,” Attorney General Taylor said.
In its motion for summary judgment filed last August, the State argued that Congress did not grant the Secretary of the Interior the authority to change the compromises Congress negotiated when it passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) in 1971.
