Judge rules Camp 4 trust decision ‘unlawful’
A United States District Court judge has ruled that a 2017 decision to transfer a 1,400-acre parcel of land known as “Camp 4” to the Chumash Reservation was unlawful.
The information was revealed Wednesday via email from plantiff’s attorney Barry Cappello with Cappello & Noel LLP Trial Lawyers in Santa Barbara and Rumbaugh Public Relations in Thousand Oaks.
The property was purchased by the Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians in 2010 from late actor and developer Fess Parker.
In 2013, the tribe filed an application to transfer the land to the U.S. Government, allowing it to then become a part of the Chumash Reservation. In 2014, the Bureau of Indian Affairs transferred the land into the Federal Trust. During the process, the BIA conducted an Environmental Assessment but did not perform a full Environmental Impact Report. The BIA issued a report stating that they found no significant environmental impact.
The plaintiff in this case, Anne Crawford-Hall, an owner of the property before Parker, filed an appeal to the decision to not conduct a full Environmental Impact Report.
The court’s ruling came down to Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn. Washburn would resign before ruling.
In his stead, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Lawrence Roberts held Washburn’s position for 210 days before returning to his deputy role.
In 2017, on the final day of President Obama’s administration, Roberts issued the Department of the Interior’s final decision affirming the 2014 decision to put the land into the trust. Roberts then resigned.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs put the large swath of land into the Federal Trust, essentially transferring ownership of the land to the Chumash Tribe, which would then be allowed to add the land to its Reservation.
In Wednesday’s decision, Judge Steven Wilson ruled that Roberts was not authorized to issue a final decision for the Department of the Interior.
Wilson’s ruling vacated the 2017 decision and thus rescinded the BIA transfer of the land to the Federal Trust on behalf of the Chumash.
“Crawford-Hall’s success in this litigation was of enormous benefit to the entire valley, and she is to be commended for single-handedly fighting the entire U.S. government to preserve the natural beauty of the valley,” said Cappello.
“Our client didn’t want to watch as this agricultural valley became filled with casinos and high rise hotels,” said Wendy Welkom, an attorney at Cappello & Noël, who worked on the case.
The Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians had planned to develop the land for tribal housing.
Wednesday’s ruling means the property will continue to belong to the Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians but will not be part of the reservation and the tribe will not be able to develop the land as they planned. The land parcel is currently zoned for low density agriculture under a specific community plan. If the land were to again be placed in the Federal Trust, the tribe would have been able to circumvent local and State land regulations.
The latest ruling is a major victory for Santa Ynez Valley residents and the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors who opposed the project.
For the complete, 36-page court decision, click here (PDF).
