ELR Citation: ELR 20092
No(s). 04-3256 (10th Cir. May 4, 2005)

The Tenth Circuit dismissed a Native American tribe's appeal of a General Services Administration determination that property underlying a former military installation no longer lies within the tribe's present-day reservation boundaries and that the tribe is therefore not entitled to the property. The appeal is moot. While the appeal was pending, Congress passed legislation giving the Secretary of the Army specific discretion to convey the property to any entity selected by the Board of Commissioners of Johnson County, Kansas. The Secretary exercised this discretion, and a sale of the property is in the process of being consummated. The court, therefore, is unable to give the tribe the relief they seek in the instant action.