Winnemem Wintu Tribe v. United States Department of the Interior

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

This matter is before the court on motions to dismiss plaintiffs’ first amended complaint by defendants the United States Department of the Interior (“DOI”), Bureau of Reclamation (“BOR”), Bureau of Indian Affairs (“BIA”), Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”), United States Forest Service (“USFS”), and United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) (collectively, “the agency defendants”) and District Ranger for the Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area, Kristy Cottini, and Forest Supervisor for Shasta-Trinity National Forest, J. Sharon Heywood (collectively, “the individual defendants”). Defendants move to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). The Winnemem Wintu Tribe, Caleen Sisk Franco, and Mark Franco (“plaintiffs”) oppose defendants’ motion. For the reasons set forth below, defendants’ motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs filed their initial complaint on April 19, 2009, asserting various tort claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”) against the agency defendants and against Secretary of the Interior Kenneth Salazar and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. (Compl. ¶¶ 2,…