Project Assistant
Resume:
ALICE ELIZABETH WALKER
Attorney at Law
McELROY, MEYER, WALKER & CONDON, P.C.
Boulder, Colorado 80302
*******@*******.***
LEGAL EXPERIENCE
I am the managing partner of the law firm of McElroy, Meyer, Walker & Condon, P.C.,
exclusively representing Indian tribes and their members in complex litigation in the areas of
natural resources, tribal jurisdiction and administrative law.
I represent the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians in Arizona regarding issues associated with the
proposed development of a pipeline by the State of Utah to transport water from Lake Powell to
St. George and Cedar City, Utah. This work requires substantial expertise in environmental law
and administrative law relative to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Bureau of
Land Management, as well as the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic
Preservation Act, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and many other
applicable federal, state and tribal laws.
I represent the Navajo Nation in its dispute regarding Navajo uses of the Hopi Partitioned Lands.
I am involved in the representation of the Navajo Nation in the assertion of its water rights claims
in the Little Colorado River and Gila River general stream adjudications, and to claim water
rights from the mainstem of the Colorado River. Additionally, I have worked with the Navajo
Nation on environmental issues such as endangered fish and particulate concentration in the Little
Colorado River and Gila River. I also represented the Navajo Nation in litigation opposing the
State of Arizona s claim for federal reserved water rights to serve its state trust lands. I also
worked extensively on Arizona v. California litigation, representing the Colorado River Indian
Tribes in both the United States Supreme Court as well as the Court of Federal Claims.
I represent the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority, a tribal entity wholly owned
and operated by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, in matters related to the provision and
expansion of telecommunications services within the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. I was
involved in the representation of the Telephone Authority in its jurisdictional dispute with the
South Dakota Public Utilities Commission regarding the Telephone Authority s desire to
purchase three telephone exchanges from Qwest Communications, Inc. and the State of South
Dakota s actions to prevent that purchase. That dispute required litigation in state and federal
court, as well as the prosecution of an administrative action before the Federal Communications
Commission. I have also represented the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority in
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the development of the tribal telecommunications code, and continue to represent the Telephone
Authority in telecommunications and other regulatory matters.
I represented the Walker River Paiute Tribe in ongoing water litigation in federal district court in
Nevada, entitled United States v. Walker River Irrigation Dist. That matter involved complex
civil litigation over the allocation of water from the Walker River and its tributaries, in which the
Tribe and the United States asserted water rights from the river in addition to certain rights that
were decreed in 1936. I represented the Tribe in its challenge to proposed increases in the
operation and maintenance fees charged to individuals receiving water from the Walker River
Indian Irrigation Project. In addition, I participated extensively in the preparation of
environmental compliance documents in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act
on behalf of the Walker River Paiute Tribe. In particular, I was substantially involved in the
compilation of an environmental impact statement for a project to repair and modify a dam
located on the Walker River Indian Reservation, pursuant to the Indian Dams Safety Act. That
work included negotiations with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of
Indian Affairs in order to ensure that the Tribe s interests were protected in the dam repair and
modification process on the Tribe s reservation. I also analyzed the environmental, economic
and cultural impacts of a Navy bombing range that encroaches on the Walker River Indian
Reservation. I have worked for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in its efforts to ensure
environmental compliance for the Animas-La Plata Project. This work required substantial
familiarity with the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, the Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and the Endangered Species Act.
I was involved in the representation of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in the
inland phase of United States v. Michigan in which the Tribe, along with four other Michigan
Indian tribes, asserted off-reservation hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering rights reserved
under an 1836 treaty. I was also involved in the representation of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of
Chippewa Indians in litigation challenging the Sault Tribe s ability to conduct gaming, pursuant
to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, on lands taken into trust for the Sault Tribe s benefit after
the effective date of the Act. In November of 2008, we prevailed on behalf of the Sault Tribe,
and the Tribe is now conducting its gaming on after-acquired lands in St. Ignace, Michigan. I
also worked substantially on the Colville Tribes gaming litigation, again involving litigation
before the federal district courts and courts of appeals, as well as an administrative rulemaking
proceeding before the Secretary of the Interior. The issues associated with the tribal gaming
activities also have included matters related to local regulatory jurisdiction, employment issues,
and tribal jurisdiction on trust lands.
I was involved in the representation of the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation in the appeal by the State
of Connecticut of the decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Assistant Secretary --
Indian Affairs to acknowledge the Nation under federal law. The appeal involved substantial
familiarity with the federal acknowledgment regulations, which set forth mandatory criteria for
federal acknowledgment, as well as the administrative appeals process. I also represented the
Nation in the development of its tribal constitution, and provided the Nation with legal analyses
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addressing other federal acknowledgment proceedings, and the effect of changes in state law
upon the Nation.
I was substantially involved in the litigation of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe s claim to coalbed
methane associated with the Tribe s coal reserves underlying the Southern Ute Indian
Reservation. I participated in all aspects of that litigation, from the district court level through the
conclusion of the proceedings in the United States Supreme Court.
I have represented the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indian on taxation matters between the
Tribe and the State of Michigan. I have participated in the analysis of certain potential land
claims of the Siletz Tribe in Oregon. I also assisted in the development of environmental codes
for the Walker River Paiute Tribe as well as a water code and water quality standards program for
the Tribe. I helped establish and currently represent a non-profit organization dedicated to the
protection of American Indian sacred sites. I successfully applied for tax exempt status pursuant
to 501(c)(3) for that foundation, as well as for the Colorado Indian Bar Association.
EMPLOYMENT McElroy, Meyer, Walker & Condon, P.C.
HISTORY Boulder, Colorado
July 1992 to Present
Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker
Washington, D.C.
August 1991 to May 1992
Law clerk
Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse & Endreson
Washington, D.C.
September 1989 to August 1991
Law clerk
Georgetown University Law Center
Washington, D.C.
June 1989 to September 1989
Research assistant
EDUCATION Georgetown University Law Center
Washington, D.C.
Juris Doctor, 1992
Georgetown University School of Foreign Service
Washington, D.C.
Master of Science, 1992
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Earlham College
Richmond, Indiana
Bachelor of Arts, 1987
PROFESSIONAL Colorado Indian Bar Association
ASSOCIATIONS President, 1996 to 2000; Vice-President, 1994-1996
Member, 1992 to Present
Colorado Law Firm Pledge to Diversity Group
1999 to Present
BAR State of Colorado; United States Supreme Court; United States Courts
ADMISSIONS of Appeals for the Sixth, Ninth, Tenth and Federal Circuits; United
States District Courts for the District of Colorado, Eastern District of
Washington, District of Oregon, Western District of Michigan, and
Southern District of California; United States Court of Federal Claims.
SPEECHES April 2012: Presented paper entitled Lake Powell Pipeline Project:
AND Traditional Cultural Properties Designation and Protection of Kaibab
PRESENTATIONS Paiute Tribal Resources at the 2012 Conference for the Rocky Mountain
Mineral Law Institute, Denver, Colorado.
April 2010: Presented paper entitled Lake Powell Pipeline Project:
Section 106 Consultation and Cultural Resources Protection Without a
Lead Agency at the Federal Bar Association, Indian Law Conference,
Santa Fe, New Mexico.
February 2009: Participated in the National Native American Law
Students Association Moot Court Competition, judging four arguments
as an appellate judge, at the University of Colorado School of Law,
Boulder, Colorado.
November 2007: Delivered speech addressing Kaibab Band of Paiute
Indians and Utah s Lake Powell Pipeline, and the Law of the Colorado
River, at the 2007 Tri-State Southern Paiute Water Rights Conference.
January 2004: Delivered speech addressing Navajo Nation s Complaint
for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (D. Ariz.) on the Colorado River
at The Great Plains Tribal Water Alliance Organizational Meeting,
Rapid City, South Dakota.
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February 2001: Delivered speech addressing United States v. Walker
River Irrigation Dist., No. C-125 (D. Nev.), at the Nevada Water
Resources Association Annual Conference, Reno, Nevada.
October 2000: Delivered speech addressing Tribal Environmental
Issues, Walker River Basin, at the Nevada Water Law Conference,
Reno, Nevada, cited by Supreme Court of Nevada in Mineral County v.
State of Nevada, 20 P.3d 800, 803 n.8 (Nev. 2001).
April 1999: Delivered speech addressing United States v. Walker River
Irrigation Dist., No. C-125 (D. Nev.) at the Federal Bar Association,
Indian Law Conference, Tribal Water Rights Panel, Albuquerque, New
Mexico.
August 1998: Delivered speech addressing Tribal Code Development at
the Natural Resource and Environmental Law on the Reservation
Conference, Phoenix, Arizona.
April 1997: Delivered guest lecture entitled Native American Water
Rights: The Animas-La Plata Settlement, for seminar on New
Perspectives on Western Water Resources Management in the 21st
Century at University of Wyoming, Lander, Wyoming.
June 1995: Delivered speech addressing Southern Ute Indian Tribe v.
Amoco Prod. Co. (D. Colo.) and Southern Ute Indian Tribe v. United
States (Ct. Cls.) at Eastern Mineral Law Foundation, Nashville,
Tennessee.
OTHER Fluent in Spanish
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