Opinion ID: 782324
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Subsequent Proceedings and Events

Text: 9 The parties also point to several events that occurred between the 1921 Funk decision and the institution of this action in 1996. 10
11 In 1924, the Federal Power Commission (FPC), the predecessor of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), issued a 50-year minor part license, authorizing Tacoma to flood 8.8 acres of United States Forest Service land. City of Tacoma, 87 FERC ¶ 61,197 at 61,732 n. 10, 1999 WL 323705 (1999). The FPC by order said that the license will not interfere or be inconsistent with the purpose for which any reservation affected thereby was created or acquired. 3 Id. After 1974, the FERC issued an order extending the same right by granting Tacoma annual licenses for the next 24 years. In 1998, after this action started, the FERC issued an order granting Tacoma a 40-year license to continue operating the Cushman project. City of Tacoma, 84 FERC ¶ 61,107, 1998 WL 608611 (1998); see City of Tacoma, 86 FERC ¶ 61,311, 1999 WL 177637 (1999). The order recognized Tacoma's property interests in the five allotments, but acknowledged that this litigation would materially affect whether the lands were considered reservations. 4 84 FERC ¶ 61,107 at 61,547 & n. 55, 1998 WL 608611. In March 1999, the FERC issued an order on rehearing, finding that the five allotments fell within the FPA's definition of reservations based on the District Court's grant of summary judgment. 86 FERC ¶ 61,311, 1999 WL 177637 at 62,075. 12
13 In an action against the State of Washington, Tacoma, and several corporations and individuals, the Tribe sought to quiet title on tidelands next to the reservation by the Hood Canal. See Skokomish Indian Tribe v. France, 320 F.2d 205, 206 (9th Cir.1963). The United States was not a party to the action. 14 The district court held that the Tribe's challenges to the FPC license were barred by laches and equitable estoppel. It held also that the action was a collateral attack barred by res judicata, that the issues should have been raised by the Tribe or the United States in the FPC hearings. We affirmed, holding that there was no clear error in the findings on which the District Court based its conclusions that the tidelands were not part of the reservation. 15
16 In March 1977, the Skokomish Tribal Council passed a resolution on the Funk proceedings, to the effect that the state court lacked jurisdiction to condemn the property and that neither the United States nor the Tribe was a party in the action, as was required. The resolution asked the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to undertake litigation and all other steps necessary to set aside or otherwise secure relief from the illegal condemnations.