FOR IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE – 11/04/2025
BY THE SWINOMISH INDIAN TRIBAL COMMUNITY
Swinomish Tribe Announces Resolution of Litigation with BNSF
Fidalgo Island – The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community today announced the resolution of the Tribe’s long-running Federal Court trespass litigation with BNSF Railway. The Tribe also announced it had established a new business relationship with BNSF. Together, the new agreements chart a cooperative path forward that affirms Swinomish sovereignty and delivers benefits for the Tribe, BNSF, the Salish Sea, local industry and the region.
For more than a year after the Federal Court in Seattle entered judgment in the Tribe’s favor, BNSF and the Tribe have litigated BNSF’s appeal. At the same time, the parties participated in confidential mediation overseen by the Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals. Today the Tribe and BNSF filed a joint stipulation informing the Court of Appeals that the mediation resulted in a confidential resolution of the litigation.
Swinomish Chairman Steve Edwards stated on behalf of the Swinomish Senate:
“These agreements create new opportunities for future Tribal investment in housing, healthcare, and education for our Tribal members, and in natural resources stewardship. We are a service tribe, and like many Native communities across the country, the Swinomish community faces disparities in housing for its members, health care and health outcomes, and educational opportunities. These agreements will give us tools to help address those issues while also protecting what is central to who we are: our land and waters, our sovereignty, and our Treaty fisheries.”
An easement agreement signed in 1991 requires the Tribe’s consent for any BNSF operations over the Reservation that exceed one train of no more than 25 cars in each direction per day. Swinomish and BNSF have now agreed that one unit train -- a train made up entirely of cars carrying a single type of commodity -- may be operated across the easement per day. This includes unit trains transporting crude oil across the easement. Swinomish and BNSF have also agreed that in order to provide greater flexibility to rail shippers, a limited number of additional rail cars may cross the easement as part of BNSF’s daily manifest or local train.
The exercise of Treaty fishing rights is central to Swinomish culture, economy, and identity. Swinomish’s consent to allow unit trains to cross its Reservation will decrease the volume of marine tanker vessels delivering crude oil to March Point, providing a direct benefit to Tribal Treaty fishers, whose work on the water is disrupted and at times harmed by those vessels. Specifically, reduced marine vessel traffic is expected to result in decreased interference with Tribal Treaty fishing activities, reduced damage to or destruction of Tribal Treaty fishing gear, and reduced risk of potentially catastrophic marine vessel incidents, oil spills and harm to marine habitats.
In reaching their agreements, Swinomish and BNSF have also developed new lines of communication to minimize interference by BNSF trains with the Tribe’s access to its Treaty fishing areas. They have also cooperated to address and reduce Swinomish concerns about the safety of the rail line and swing-bridge on the easement.
Finally, today’s agreements will promote employment, local business growth and the long-term stability and predictability of the Swinomish, Anacortes and Skagit County economies.
Swinomish Chairman Steve Edwards stated on behalf of the Swinomish Senate:
“From the beginning, our goal has been to protect our homeland – and our sovereign right to control how our land is used – as well as to ensure that the promises made to our ancestors in the Treaty of Point Elliott and in BNSF’s easement agreement were honored. We filed this lawsuit in 2015 to stop the trains that were running across Swinomish land without the Tribe’s required consent.
“Tribes have always been the best stewards of their lands and resources, and these agreements reflect that. By reducing vessel traffic and improving rail coordination, we are protecting our ability to exercise our Treaty fishing rights and reducing the risks marine tankers pose to our Treaty resources. These measures ensure our culture and traditions endure long into the future while also supporting long-term economic viability. Everyone prospers when Tribal sovereignty is respected and industry works in true partnership with Tribes.”
The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community is a federally recognized Indian Tribe with more than 1,000 members. Swinomish is a legal successor to the signatories of the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott. Its Reservation is located 65 miles north of Seattle, Washington, on Fidalgo Island.
For further information, contact:
John Grandy - grandyadvisory [at] gmail.com (grandyadvisory[at]gmail[dot]com) - 202-236-9903