Free Motion for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:03-cv-02684-CFL

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Filed 03/14/2007

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS ____________________________________ SHELDON PETERS WOLFCHILD, et al., ) ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) ) THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ) ) Defendant. ) ____________________________________)

Case No. 03-2684L Hon. Charles F. Lettow Electronically filed on March 14, 2007

DEFENDANT'S PARTIAL-CONSENT MOTION TO ENLARGE THE TIME FOR DEFENDANT TO FILE ITS RESPONSE TO KERMIT A. BELGARDE'S MOTION TO INTERVENE

Defendant, the United States, moves pursuant to RCFC 6 for an extension of seven days, to and including March 26, 2007, of the time to file its response to Kermit A. Belgarde's Motion to Intervene (Docket 434). The grounds for this request appear below. 1. On Thursday, March 1, 2007, this Court filed a minute entry advising parties that Kermit A. Belgarde had filed a hard-copy of a motion to intervene with the Court and that the document could be viewed by contacting the Clerk's Office (Docket 434). As explained below, Defendant's counsel diligently tried to obtain a copy of the motion to prepare a timely response. 2. On Tuesday, March 6, 2007, counsel for Defendant sent a paralegal to the Clerk's office to obtain a copy of the Belgarde motion. The paralegal was advised by Laurie Gray of the Clerk's office that the Belgarde motion could not be located but that she would contact case administrator Derek Williams and contact

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Defendant once the motion was located. 3. On March 7 and 8, 2007, separate voice messages were left for Clerk's office personnel, including the case administrator, requesting information about the status of the Belgarde motion. 4. On Monday, March 12, 2007, the Clerk's office informed Defendant's counsel's office that the motion had been located and was ready for pick up. The Belgarde motion, including attachments, appears to be over one hundred pages long. 5. Based on the delay in obtaining the motion and the length of the motion and attachments, on March 12, 2007, counsel for Defendant contacted counsel for the plaintiffs and interveners via e-mail to determine if they had any objections to an extension of time to respond to the Belgarde motion. Because Mr. Belgarde did not include telephone or e-mail contact information in his motion to intervene (it appears he is an inmate at a correctional institution), Defendant was unable to contact him to request his consent to the extension; however, Defendant will serve a copy of this motion on Mr. Belgarde by mail at the address set forth on the motion and his February 22, 2007, letter to the Clerk. 6. As of the time this motion was finalized for filing with the Court, undersigned counsel's office had received responses from the following parties or from their respective counsel, all of whom indicated consent or no objection to the requested extension: A. B. Robin Zephier on behalf of the Zephier Group Sam S. Killinger (counsel for Enyard and Kitto Groups)

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C.

Nicole Nachtigal Emerson (counsel for Francine Garreau (Hall), et al., Group)

D. E.

Gary Montana (counsel for Julia DuMarce Group) Lawrence Crosby (counsel for Stanley F. Cermak, Sr. and Raymond Cermak, Sr. Intervenors)

F. G.

Erick G. Kaardal (counsel for Wolfchild Plaintiffs) Phillip W. Morgan (counsel for Movants for Intervention Marvel Jean DuMarce, et al., and Vivian Cordelia Youngbear)

H. I. J. K.

Elizabeth T. Walker (counsel for Walker Group) Peter Gray (counsel for Lower Sioux Indian Community) Garrett J. Horn (counsel for Saul, et al.) Jack E. Pierce (counsel for Intervenors Raymond Cermak, Sr., Michael Stephens, Jesse Cermak, et al., Denise Henderson, Delores Klingberg, Sally Ella Alkire, Pierre Arnold, Jr., Gertrude Godoy, et al.)

L.

Scott A. Johnson (counsel for Rocque, Taylor and Prescott Descendants Intervenors)

7.

As of the time this motion was finalized for filing with the Court, undersigned counsel's office had not received any objections to the requested extension.

8.

Granting the relief requested will not unduly delay the resolution of this case, nor prejudice any party.

9.

The United States has not requested any other extensions of time with regard to

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this response deadline. 10. For all of these reasons, the motion for an extension should be granted.

Dated: March 14, 2007.

Respectfully submitted, MATTHEW J. MCKEOWN Acting Assistant Attorney General Environment and Natural Resources Division

/s/ Laura Maroldy LAURA MAROLDY Natural Resources Section Environment and Natural Resources Division United States Department of Justice Benjamin Franklin Station, P.O. Box 663 Washington, D.C. 20044-0663 Telephone: (202) 514-4565 Facsimile: (202) 305-0506 Email: [email protected] Attorney of Record for Defendant THOMAS ZIA SARA CULLEY Trial Attorneys Natural Resources Section Environment and Natural Resources Division United States Department of Justice Washington, D.C. 20044-0663

OF COUNSEL Janet Goodwin Angela Kelsey Office of the Solicitor United States Department of the Interior

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on this 14th day of March, 2007, I directed that the foregoing DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO ENLARGE THE TIME FOR DEFENDANT TO FILE ITS RESPONSE TO KERMIT A. BELGARDE'S MOTION TO INTERVENE and that the NOTICE OF ELECTRONIC FILING be sent by U.S. MAIL, FIRST-CLASS POSTAGE PREPAID, to: KERMIT A. BELGARDE, # 905798 Airway Heights Correction Center NORA UNIT B-39-L P.O. Box 1839 Airway Heights, WA 99001-1839; and that the Notice of Electronic Filing (only) be sent by U.S. MAIL, FIRST-CLASS POSTAGE PREPAID, to: Francis Felix P.O. Box 141232 Minneapolis, MN 55414 Ron Volesky 356 Daktoa Avenue, South Huron, SD 57350-2513 Philip Baker-Shenk Holland & Knight, LLP 2099 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Suite 100 Washington, DC 20006

Dated: March 14, 2007

/s/ Laura Maroldy Laura Maroldy

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