Leonard F. Nelson v. Interior Board of Land Appeals, Etc., and Cecil D. Andrus, Secretary of the Interior, Etc.

This is the second appeal in this case. Our first decision is reported in Nelson v. Kleppe, 9 Cir., 1976, 529 F.2d 164 . There, we held that a decision by the Interior Board of Land Appeals of the United States Department of the Interior was erroneous. The Board, overruling a decision of a hearing examiner, had held that Nelson did not have a habitable house on the homestead property when he filed his application for a patent. We reversed the decision of the district court, which had upheld the decision of the Board, and remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings.

The district court in turn remanded the matter to the Board of Land Appeals “for a final determination of all questions remaining concerning the issuance of [this] patent.” On January 16, 1977, the Board handed down its second decision, 28 I.B.L.A. 314. It held that the remaining questions to be decided were whether Nelson had cultivated at least one-eighth of the homestead acreage for at least one year before filing final proof, whether his attempt at cultivation was made in good faith, and whether he had established and maintained his residence on the homestead to the exclusion of one…