The Osage Tribe of Oklahoma scored a major victory for American property rights last week after a judge ordered the dismantling of a renewable energy wind farm erected without a permit on their tribal lands.
One of the main reasons the Native American Council opposed the wind farm was to protect their mineral rights, not to mention their ability to control their ancestral homeland.
But the battle has been raging in court for a decade, as the Osage Nation and its Mineral Council worked to take down Osage Wind LLC, Enel Kansas LLC and Enel Green Power North America Inc.
The victory was complete. U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Jennifer Choi Groves ruled in the case in Tulsa last week that the Osage Nation was granted injunctive relief by “removing the wind turbine farm for continued trespassing,” according to the Tulsa World.
The judge ruled that the wind turbine facility constituted “mining” and required a lease from the Osage Minerals Council, something the wind farm companies neglected to do when installing their turbines.
The decision to mine was made because turbine construction crews began extracting tons of rock from the construction site, then crushing it to serve as backfill for their turbines, according to The Energy Mix. Extracting the rock was considered “mining,” and that required a lease with the Osage Nation, a requirement that the wind companies refused to abide by.
Now, more than 80 wind turbines and their supporting facilities will have to be removed from Osage lands where the indigenous group's property rights have been upheld.
“The developers failed to obtain a mining lease during or after construction, as well as after a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decision holding that a mining lease was necessary,” Judge Choi Groves wrote.
“In the record before the court, it is clear that defendants are effectively avoiding the lease requirement,” the judge continued. “Allowing such conduct would create the potential for future interference with the authority of the Osage Mineral Council by defendants or others wishing to develop the mineral lease.”
“The court concludes that Defendants’ past and continued refusal to obtain a lease constitutes an interference with the sovereignty of the Osage Nation and is sufficient to constitute irreparable harm,” she continued.
Officials at the Osage Minerals Council were thrilled — and even a little shocked — by the ruling. “This is a win not just for the Osage Mineral Council,” said Board Chairman Everett Waller. “This is a win for the Indian state.”
I argue that it is also a win for American property rights. This wind energy group moved in and set up its turbines without any interest from the rightful owners of the property they built on. This is a win for everyone, not just “Indian Country.”
Waller also expressed regret for having to make such efforts in the first place, saying, “I hope no other tribe will have to do what we had to do.”
He also made a good point, adding: “There are a lot of small tribes that couldn't have fought that long, but that's why we're the Osage. We're here, this is our homeland, and we'll protect it at all costs.”
“Our efforts will not only protect the production side, but we are actually looking to protect our reserves for future generations,” Waller added. “This is really a great effort.”
The case is not over yet. How much money the energy companies will have to pay the Osage Nation in compensation is still to be determined.
“My legislature, the Osage Conference, hasn't talked about it yet, nor has the Minerals Council, but as president, I can tell you, my view is — they should come down,” Osage leader Standing Bear said. “I would like to see compensation for what we consider to be not only the cost of the rock but the cost of trespassing.
“It was a callous disregard for our rights, and it must stop. If they get minimal damages, others will come and do the same thing,” Standing Bear added.
In fact, the Osage Nation is fully federally recognized, and since the Osage Allotment Act of 1906, the indigenous tribe has had rights to oil, natural gas, and other precious minerals under their lands as well.
These green energy companies clearly violated the law and the property rights of the Osage Nation, and it is all well and good that they are being forced to pay for this violation. This ruling represents a major victory against the continuing infringement on American private property rights due to the folly of leftists in the field of green energy. Congratulations to the Osage Nation.
This article originally appeared in The Western Journal.
