Wilkins

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

LARRY STEVEN WILKINS; WILL No. 25-

STANTON,

D.C. No. 9:18-cv-00147- Plaintiffs - Appellants,

DLC

v.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, OPINION

Defendant - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Montana Dana L. Christensen, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted November 4, 2025 Portland, Oregon

Filed December 29, 2025

Before: MILAN D. SMITH, JR., JACQUELINE H. NGUYEN, and HOLLY A. THOMAS, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Milan D. Smith, Jr. SUMMARY *

Quiet Title Act / Law of the Case

The panel affirmed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the government, in which the district court applied the law of the case doctrine and held that the statute of limitations had run on plaintiffs’ claims seeking to quiet title on properties that they acquired in 1991 and 2004, respectively. The properties are subject to an easement that plaintiffs’ predecessors-in-interest granted to the United States. Plaintiffs initiated this action against the government in 2018 based on their concern…