YAKIMA — A federal judge has dismissed Klickitat County’s lawsuit against the federal government in a dispute over the boundaries of the Yakama Nation reservation.
The Yakima Herald-Republic reports that U.S. District Court Judge Lonny Suko ruled that the county lacks standing to ask the federal government to make a boundary decision.
Suko did not decide who has jurisdiction over 99,000 acres southeast of Mount Adams known as Tract D. He ruled that when the federal government approved a process that gave the tribe jurisdiction over tribal members in many criminal and civil areas, it didn’t have to clarify the reservation boundaries.
The south-central Washington county sued the U.S. Interior Department in April seeking in part to prevent the agency and Bureau of Indian Affairs from exercising jurisdiction over the tract.
Klickitat County Prosecuting Attorney David Quesnel called the ruling frustrating. Yakama Nation Tribal Council Chairman JoDe Goudy did not respond to a request for comment.
