State of Montana, Department of State Lands v. Daniel Glickman, Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture

85 F.3d 638 NOTICE: Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 provides that dispositions other than opinions or orders designated for publication are not precedential and should not be cited except when relevant under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. STATE OF MONTANA, DEPARTMENT OF STATE LANDS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Daniel GLICKMAN, * Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture, Defendant-Appellant. No. 95-35088. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted April 11, 1996. Decided May 7, 1996. Before: WRIGHT, PREGERSON and TASHIMA, Circuit Judges. 1 MEMORANDUM ** 2 We must decipher the definition of "person" in the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 (FACT), 7 U.S.C. § 1421 Note 2241 et seq. (repealed 1994). Montana seeks federal disaster assistance benefits for weather-damaged land that it uses in support of public education ("school trust lands"). The state applied for benefits pursuant to the FACT, which has a limited emergency crop loss assistance component. The Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (the "Secretary") denied Montana's application because the state's annual gross income…