Tribe Suing Reservation Farmer Coeur D’Alenes Seek Penalty For Burning Without Permit

The Coeur d’Alene Tribe is suing a reservation farmer for failing to obtain a tribal burn permit before torching 30 acres of bluegrass last August.

The case may be the reservation’s first.

The lawsuit filed in Tribal Court against Daniel Hopson, who is not an Indian, seeks an $800 civil penalty and court costs.

Since 1990, the tribe has charged a $1-per-acre administration fee to monitor field burning on the reservation.

Hopson obtained permits through 1994 when the Idaho Department of Lands contracted with the tribe to issue state burn permits.

Hopson said then he could not obtain a state permit without paying for the tribal permit.

Last year, the department quit coordinating permits with the tribe.

Hopson obtained the free state permit last August, but not the tribal permit.

A U.S. Patent issued at the turn of the century for Hopson’s property excludes him from tribal regulations, the farmer said.

But tribal attorney Tara Allgood said state burn permits point out that reservation farmers must obtain a tribal permit.

Arlo Slack, a fire warden with the Department of Lands in St. Maries, said farmers on the reservation are required to coordinate burning with the tribe and obtain a state permit.

The Idaho Department of Lands quit working with the tribe on permitting field burns after some authorized burns “slipped through the cracks,” Slack said.

State fire officials responded unnecessarily to approved fires.

The tribe also is concerned that Hopson burned his field Aug. 14, three weeks before the Sept. 5 opening of the burn season on the reservation.

Hopson said he has forwarded the tribal lawsuit to the attorney general’s office in Boise and is waiting for a response.