Supreme Court sends land dispute back to Wash. top court

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court is asking Washington state’s highest court to take another look at a land dispute between a Native American tribe and its neighbours.

The dispute concerns a roughly 40-acre plot of land purchased by the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe in 2013. A land survey convinced the tribe that a barbed wire fence between its land and land owned by Sharline and Ray Lundgren is in the wrong place. The tribe wanted to tear down the fence and build a new one in the right spot. The Lundgrens sued, but the tribe argued it was immune from suit.

The Washington Supreme Court sided with the Lundgrens. The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 Monday the court’s reasoning was flawed and asked the court to take another look at the dispute.