Federal disposal of tribal land
Department of the Interior v. Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation
In brief
- Where it stands
- Petition Pending
Awaiting an order on the petition
- What it’s about
- The Department of the Interior asks whether federal land law lets the government sell or exchange land it previously bought from a tribe, despite a 1900 law limiting how the land could be disposed of.
- What's at stake
- It remains unresolved whether federal officials may sell or exchange this land under FLPMA despite the limits stated in the 1900 law.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.
What it's about
The petition was distributed for a conference; that step does not mean the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
The 1900 law approving the purchase said the land could be opened to settlement and disposed of only under certain listed federal land laws.
Question presented
Whether the United States may invoke FLPMA to dispose of land that the government previously acquired from an Indian tribe, when the statute that approved the land’s earlier purchase stated that the land “shall be opened to settlement by the proclamation of the President, and shall be subject to disposal under the homestead, town-site, stone and timber, and mining laws of the United States only.”?
What happens next
The next step is for the Court to decide whether to hear the case. The petition was distributed for the Dec. 4, 2026, conference, but that date does not guarantee an order.
Documents
Docket activity
New analysis added
AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata
Case data updated: question_presented, extraction_metadata
Brief added: Petition
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.