Opinion ID: 743644
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Challenges to the district court's valuation calculations

Text: 27 The district court separately valued Navajo agricultural use and grazing use, as contemplated by the statute. 25 U.S.C. § 640d-17(a)(2). The Navajo challenge the agricultural use valuation on two grounds. First, they argue that the district court clearly erred when it adopted Hopi expert Robert Francy's conclusion that the Navajo had actually farmed the JUA between 1962 and 1979. They contend that Francy's conclusion was based only on speculation. However, the record shows that Francy's conclusion was premised on two reports from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), aerial photographs, maps, documents, and personal spot checks. The court did not clearly err. Second, the Navajo contend that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding that there was a commercial market for the approximately 200,000 pounds per year of corn attributable to Navajo farming. This argument, however, spuriously assumes that the corn consumed by the Navajo themselves lacks value. The evidence clearly established that the market for most of the corn was in the nature of personal consumption, and only a small percentage of the crops were sold commercially. Thus, the evidence supported a finding that there was a market for the corn. 28 The Navajo challenge to the district court's calculation of the value of Navajo grazing on the JUA is slightly more complicated than their other contentions, but no more valid. First, the Navajo contend that the value of their grazing on the JUA should be computed from the land's carrying capacity, i.e., the amount of grazing the land can sustain without irreparable damage. This is how ranch land is typically valued for leasing purposes. Because longtime Navajo overgrazing drastically decreased the carrying capacity of the JUA, the rental value of the land between 1962 and 1979 was only one-fifth the typical rate in Arizona. The district court thus rejected the Navajo's approach and estimated the actual amount of grazing from the number of Navajo animals on the JUA. At times, actual grazing by Navajo livestock exceeded the carrying capacity by approximately seven-fold. The district court then valued the Navajo's use of the land by reference to the actual amount of Navajo grazing. The Navajo argue that in so doing, the district court improperly charged them more than they would have paid on the open market, as the open market rate is pegged to carrying capacity, a lower figure. As the Hopi point out, consumption beyond the carrying capacity should exact a premium charge. The district court did not clearly err when it charged the Navajo for this excessive use. 29 Second, the Navajo argue that the court overestimated the number of animals on the JUA. The district court counted the number of animals in units of cattle. For most years, the court converted sheep to cattle using a ratio of five sheep per one head of cattle, and adjusted downward for low animal weight. The court did not make these adjustments for 1966, 1968 through 1971 and 1974, because it lacked information about the number of sheep and the weight of cattle on the range. The Navajo contend that the district court should have made the 5:1 conversion and the weight adjustment during these years because it had sufficient information. The record, however, reveals that the court did not have precise sheep counts during those years, and therefore could not make an accurate conversion. In addition, the court had information on only three cattle sales for those years, and therefore could not accurately adjust downward for low animal weight. The court's estimates of the number of animals on the JUA were not clearly erroneous. 30 Third, the Navajo argue that the district court erroneously valued grazing by using adjusted private Arizona lease rates instead of federal land lease rates. There were, however, no federal rates between 1962 and 1972; therefore, rates for those years could be estimated only through statistical projections. Moreover, federal rates reflect policy decisions, not market dynamics. The district court's use of private Arizona rates was not clearly erroneous. We affirm the district court's award to the Hopi in the use case. 31