Free Joint Status Report - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:01-cv-00444-MMS

Document 64

Filed 03/13/2007

Page 1 of 2

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS __________________________________________ ) QUINAULT INDIAN NATION, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) No. 01-444 L v. ) ) THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) Judge Margaret M. Sweeney ) Defendant. ) __________________________________________) SIXTH JOINT STATUS REPORT Pursuant to the Court's Order of February 1, 2007, the parties file this sixth Joint Status Report ("JSR") to report on their progress toward implementing the terms of the Settlement Agreement signed by the parties on September 20, 2004. As noted in previous Joint Status Reports ("JSRs"), the settlement framework envisions the purchase (with appropriated and privately-donated monies) of several permanent conservation easements to be held by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service by no later than December 2006. On October 6, 2004, and again on February 1, 2007, this Court issued an order granting the parties' request for an extended stay of proceedings to allow the parties and the third-party TPL time to complete funding and acquisition. The parties are pleased to report that the settlement continues to proceed as envisioned in the settlement agreement. A Continuing Resolution authorizing the FY 2007 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations bill for the remainder of FY 2007 was signed in to law. The federal party has now appropriated funds sufficient to complete the federal obligation and expects to transmit all of the outstanding balance by March 30, 2007. The Trust for Public Land has indicated its intent to complete its obligation as soon as the final conservation easement -1-

Case 1:01-cv-00444-MMS

Document 64

Filed 03/13/2007

Page 2 of 2

encompassing all lands subject to the easement has been executed. The parties are in the process of finalizing the conservation easement and expect to execute the easement in the next 30 days. The recording of the easement and the receipt of the final payment is expected no later than April 30, 2007. For this reason, the parties respectfully request that the stay of proceedings in this case be continued through May 7, 2007. The parties further propose to report back to the Court on or before May 7, 2007, regarding the status of their settlement implementation. This JSR was jointly prepared by counsel for the Nation and counsel for the United States and is filed by Defendant with consent of and behalf of both parties. Respectfully submitted, MATTHEW J. McKEOWN Acting Assistant Attorney General Environment & Natural Resources Division

s/ Kristine S. Tardiff _ KRISTINE S. TARDIFF U.S. Department of Justice Environment & Natural Resources Section 53 Pleasant Street, 4th Floor Concord, NH 03301 TEL: (603) 230-2583 FAX: (603) 225-1577 Attorneys of Record for Defendant Of Counsel: MARLENE ZICHLINSKY Office of the Regional Solicitor Pacific Northwest Region U.S. Department of the Interior 500 N.E. Multnomah, Suite 607 Portland, OR 97232 TEL: (503) 231-2128 FAX: (503) 231-2166

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