The ranch further contended that the forest management program was broader than mere oversight of forest land and included a responsibility to “provide corrective action to forest stands impacted by wildfire,” the ruling recounted.
But Judge Rice said he found that position “unavailing,” and granted the government’s motion to dismiss with prejudice.
“The fact that the forest management contract includes a general mandate to the Confederated Tribes to maintain and protect forestland does not necessarily implicate a specific duty to protect the privately held and developed mill property,” the judge wrote in an order.
He noted that a local fire district was responsible for suppressing the remaining smoldering fire at the mill’s slash piles.
BIA Wildfire Negligence Suit
A second agreement for fire protection between the BIA and the tribe, as well as a memorandum of understanding with the town of Nespelem, Washington, and the lease of a fire hall to the Colville Tribes’ emergency services department do not mention fire protection outside those areas, Judge Rice said.
