Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes v. Clinch

¶1 The Petitioner, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation have petitioned this Court to accept original jurisdiction and issue an order or other appropriate writ enjoining the Respondents, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and Bud Clinch, its director, from issuing water use permits on the Flathead Indian Reservation until such time as the tribe’s water rights have been quantified. We accept jurisdiction and grant the relief requested.

¶2 In its petition, the Tribes contend that following our decision in In the Matter of the…