Southern Pacific Transportation Company v. James G. Watt

700 F.2d 550 SOUTHERN PACIFIC TRANSPORTATION COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. James G. WATT, Secretary of the Interior, et al., Defendant-Appellant, and Walker River Paiute Tribe of Nevada, Defendant-Intervenor-Appellant. Nos. 80-4505, 80-4506. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Jan. 14, 1982. Decided March 1, 1983. Laura Frossard, Atty., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Watt. Yvonne T. Knight, Jeanne S. Whiteing, Native American Rights Fund, Boulder, Colo., for Walker River Paiute Trial. Nathan Jenkins, Reno, Nev., William R. Foley, Robert J. Foley, Foley, McIntosh & Foley, Albany, Cal., for Southern Pacific. James McCartney, Houston, Tex., for amicus curiae Transwestern Pipeline Co. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. Before FLETCHER, POOLE and CANBY, Circuit Judges. CANBY, Circuit Judge: 1 The Walker River Paiute Tribe of Nevada (Tribe) and the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) appeal from the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Southern Pacific Transportation Company (Southern Pacific). The district court held that tribal consent is not a condition precedent to the filing and…