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

Case 1:03-cv-00600-EJD

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS

CHEYENNE RIVER SIOUX TRIBE, et al., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant.

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No. 03-600 L Chief Judge Edward J. Damich (E-Filed September 10, 2008)

JOINT STATUS REPORT

Plaintiff CHEYENNE RIVER SIOUX TRIBE, et al., and Defendant UNITED STATES, by and through their respect undersigned counsel of record, hereby report on the status of this matter pursuant to the Court's order of June 4, 2008 as follows: The parties have made significant progress in their efforts to move this case toward settlement. The parties have been in frequent contact over the last 90 days as they have worked through the various tasks necessary to complete the mapping necessary for the settlement. As the Court may recall, the parties first reached agreement on those properties to be included in the settlement, which were defined by River Mile (designating their location along the river) as well as by elevation (in relation to the 100 year flood plain elevation). Plaintiffs then provided a comprehensive list of properties which they believed should be included in the settlement,

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including parcel ownership information and legal descriptions.1/ Then a map showing all properties included in the settlement by Plaintiff Group was generated. Creation of this map required Defendant to employ outside experts with skill in geo-rectified aerial mapping. It was then necessary to create individual maps of each parcel included within each Plaintiff Group taking into account common ownership boundary lines. At this point, the task became considerably more complicated, and ultimately required coordination between the Department of Justice, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the outside aerial mapping expert. First, minor errors in the Plaintiffs' listing of properties to be included in the settlement had to be corrected when the outside expert determined those errors prevented him from correctly mapping the parcel. Then, information had to be provided by the Corps so that the 100 year flood plain elevation could be properly shown on each parcel. The completion of this mapping project required the generation of numerous drafts, which were reviewed by the appropriate parties (DOJ, the Corps and/or Plaintiffs' counsel) as necessary to accomplish the purpose of the particular review. Finally, within the last two weeks, the individual parcel maps for each of the parcels to be included in the settlement were completed by Defendant and distributed to Plaintiffs' counsel. The Plaintiffs have reviewed those maps and have provided their consent thereto on September 5, 2008. The next task in the settlement process is for the individual maps to be provided to the

This list will be supplemented and updated once additional information is obtained which has been requested from the only approved title abstractor in Dewey County, South Dakota. The parties have agreed that the gaps in ownership and legal descriptions should not delay the submission of those parcels on which complete information has been obtained to the appraiser. 2

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appraiser for his review. The parties will then need to conference with the appraiser concerning possible ways to streamline the appraisal of the parcels. Once the appraisal assignment is defined, the appraiser will then be able to begin his appraisal work. The parties remain optimistic that this case will be resolved without the necessity for trial. As a result, the parties renew their request that the Court maintain its stay of any impending trial date to afford the parties an opportunity to complete the appraisal of the subject parcels and thereafter continue settlement negotiations. Defendant has conferred with counsel for Plaintiffs, who has authorized Defendant to submit this status report on behalf of both parties. Dated: September 10, 2008. Respectfully submitted, RONALD J. TENPAS Assistant Attorney General Environmental & Natural Resources Division

s/ Susan V. Cook SUSAN V. COOK, Senior Attorney JAMES D. GETTE, Trial Attorney Natural Resources Section Environment & Natural Resources Division United States Department of Justice P.O. Box 663 Washington, D.C. 20044 Tele (202) 305-0470 Fax (202) 305-0506 [email protected] Attorneys for Defendant 496640.1

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Case 1:03-cv-00600-EJD

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