Land Restored to Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation
July 19, 2024Winter King, Andrew Schwartz, and Tori Gibbons won a victory for the Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation of the Cortina Rancheria after a six-year battle to retake possession of the Nation’s land leased to a waste disposal company. The company failed to timely build and operate a waste disposal and recycling facility on the Nation’s land as required by the lease but nonetheless sought to tie up the land for another 25 years. The Firm worked with the Nation to obtain the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ termination of the lease and restoration of the land to the Nation. The Firm then represented the Nation in a successful defense of the BIA decision before the Department of Interior Board of Indian Appeals. For more information, see the Interior Board of Indian Appeals decision.