The Blackfeet Indian Tribe v. The Montana Power Company

838 F.2d 1055 The BLACKFEET INDIAN TRIBE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The MONTANA POWER COMPANY, a Montana corporation; the United States of America; and Donald P. Hodel, Secretary of the Interior, Defendants-Appellees. No. 87-3697. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Dec. 11, 1987. Decided Jan. 28, 1988. As Amended Feb. 24, 1988. Jeanne S. Whiteing, Boulder, Colo., for plaintiff-appellant. Michael P. Manion, Butte, Mont., Edward J. Shawaker, Land and Natural Resources Div., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for defendants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Montana. Before WRIGHT, ANDERSON and SCHROEDER, Circuit Judges. J. BLAINE ANDERSON, Circuit Judge: 1 The Blackfeet Indian Tribe seeks to have rights-of-way granted over tribal lands invalidated. The appeal presents the question of whether the Secretary of the Interior exceeded his authority by allowing a fifty-year term for natural gas pipeline rights-of-way across Blackfeet tribal lands. We hold he did not. I. 2 Between 1961 and 1969, the Secretary of the Interior ("Secretary") granted The Montana Power Company ("MPC") five rights-of-way for natural gas…