Settlement Reached with CSU-Long Beach Over Puvungna, Sacred Tribal Land
An agreement between the plaintiffs, the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation – Belardes and the California Cultural Resources Preservation Alliance, Inc., and the university includes permanent protection of Puvungna, prohibits development, and allows continued religious and cultural Tribal activities.
Tribes Look to Expand Cultural Burning to Restore Traditional Practices and Address Catastrophic Wildfire Threats
People indigenous to California have proactively ignited the landscape to manage plants and wildlife, provide community protection, control insects and disease, and engage in cultural and religious practices since time immemorial. Experts estimate that before 1800, between 4.5 million and 12 million acres of the state burned annually, through some combination of lightening and cultural burning.
Karuk Tribe Releases “Good Fire” Report, Addressing Barriers and Solutions to Increasing Cultural Burning
SMW Attorneys Sara Clark and Andrew Miller, together with cultural fire practitioner Don Hankins, authored Good Fire: Current Barriers to the Expansion of Cultural Burning and Prescribed Fire in California and Recommended Solutions for the Karuk Tribe. The report, which has been extensively cited in the media and by policymakers, examines the specific challenges faced […]
Colorado River Indian Tribes Secure Crucial Revisions to New Transmission Line Project
In order to serve urban customers with solar energy generated in the Southwest desert, DCR Transmission LLC proposed building a 125-mile transmission line across parts of Arizona and California. The Firm assisted the Colorado River Indian Tribes in participating before state and federal agencies in multi-year approval proceedings. Ultimately, the Tribes secured a revised route […]
Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger Announces New Partners Sara Clark and Sarah Sigman
San Francisco – Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP is proud to announce the addition of two new partners, Sara A. Clark and Sarah H. Sigman. Both attorneys were associates of the firm before joining the partnership. “We are excited to have Sara Clark and Sarah Sigman join our team of partners,” said Richard S. Taylor, […]
Tribal Participation Results in Revised Solar Project
When initially proposed, the Palen Solar Project would have involved scraping thousands of acres of the Mojave Desert to make a perfectly level site suitable for solar thermal technology. A later iteration would have involved 700-foot solar power towers, a technology known to harm birds, bats, and insects, including those of cultural significance. Throughout these […]
Ninth Circuit Upholds Tribal Court Jurisdiction over Non-Indian Trespassers
The firm represents the Colorado River Indian Tribes in tribal court actions to regain lands from non-Indian holdover tenants, resulting in a watershed Ninth Circuit ruling upholding tribal court jurisdiction. (Water Wheel Camp Recreation Area, Inc. v. LaRance, 642 F.3d 802 (9th Cir. 2011).)
Court Prevents Town from Enforcing Code on Tribal Lands
The firm obtains a federal court order declaring that the Town of Parker lacked jurisdiction to enforce its building and zoning ordinances on lands owned by the Colorado River Indian Tribes. (Colorado River Indian Tribes v. Town of Parker, 705 F.Supp. 473 (1989).)
Court Halts Construction Impacting Tribal Resources
On behalf of the Colorado River Indian Tribes, the firm obtains an injunction in federal court to prevent the issuance of permits for construction along a riverbank that will harm cultural resources. (Colorado River Indian Tribes v. Marsh, 605 F.Supp.1425 (1985).)