1924: Whatcom County purchases the Lummi Island Ferry Company ferry slips on Lummi Island and at Gooseberry Point.

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1 1855: Under Treaty of Point Elliott and an Executive Order dated November 22, 1873, the Lummi Nation reserves rights to the tidelands along the Reservation and the right to take fish at all usual and accustomed fishing grounds and stations. 1919: United States v. Romaine The Court determines that only the uplands were assigned and that the tidelands were reserved for the common use of the Lummi Nation and its members. 1921: First ferry operates from the Lummi Indian Reservation at Gooseberry Point to Lummi Island at the same location as the current ferry operated by a private entity known as the Lummi Island Ferry Company. 1924: Whatcom County purchases the Lummi Island Ferry Company ferry slips on Lummi Island and at Gooseberry Point to 1962: No formal lease agreement between Whatcom County and Lummi Nation concerning the use of Lummi Indian Reservation lands for the ferry. The first lease for the tidelands was executed on February 14, : United States v. Stotts The court determines that only the uplands were assigned and that the tidelands were reserved for common use of the Lummi Nation and its members. 1931: United States v. Boynton decides that [T]he purpose when the allotments were made was to reserve for the common use of the tribe the land over which the tides flowed. 1962: Lease agreement between the Lummi Nation and Whatcom County for annual payment of $150 and free passenger service for Lummi Tribal members and their vehicles agreement renewed several times.

2 The lease for the tidelands was executed on February 14, The 25-year lease provided for free passenger service for tribal members but not free vehicle passage. It was approved and signed by the BIA, Lummi Nation, and Whatcom County, and provided for compensation to Lummi of $150 per year for five years, after which the amount was to be reviewed and adjusted if and as necessary. In early 1974 when the County submitted its annual check for $150, the BIA returned it with the note that the annual lease cost had not yet been agreed through renegotiation. Three years later, the County received a note from BIA that $600 was owing--$150 per year for 1974 through In 1978, Whatcom County received a letter from the chair of the Lummi Indian Business Council stating that the lease was declared invalid in 1972, and that the County had two months to execute a lease presented by Lummi Nation or to discontinue its use of the tidelands. 1974: United States v. Washington, commonly referred to as the Boldt decision, affirms the treaty secured right to take fish at all usual and accustomed grounds and stations, including an exclusive right on the reservation to take fish with a primary right to Hale s passage. In 1982, about five and a half years before the execution of the 1988 lease agreement by Whatcom County and Lummi Nation, the two parties entered into two separate but related agreements. The first was an Intergovernmental Agreement executed by the Whatcom County Executive and the chair of the Lummi Indian Tribe on behalf on their respective entities on September 16, The agreement addressed a number of outstanding issues between the parties, with one clause pertaining to the ferry operation: The LIT [Lummi Indian Tribe] is working on plans for the development of the Gooseberry Point Small Boat Harbor. The County recognizes that this project involves LIT property exclusively within the boundaries of the Lummi Reservation and, therefore, that the LIT has jurisdiction over said project. LIT agrees that the construction, use, and enjoyment of the Gooseberry Point Small Boat Harbor shall be conducted in such a manner as not to interfere with the operation of the County ferry service to Lummi Island. The entire agreement was further conditioned upon the entrance and approval by the court of a consent decree by the parties (Lummi and County) in the federal district court under Civil Action No R. On October 28, 1982, under that cause number, Judge Barbara Rothstein, with the agreement of Lummi Nation and Whatcom County, entered the consent decree to which the intergovernmental agreement referred. The consent decree provided that the parties would execute a lease agreement for the land necessary for the ferry, with terms defined in the consent decree. The lease term was to be 25 years, with an option to renew for another 25 years. The compensation owing by the County to Lummi was defined, consisting of a transfer of ownership of identified real property from the County to Lummi. The County made that transfer on May 12, The compensation for the option period was to be determined based upon the fair market value of the leased land. Finally, the decree stated that the parties recognize the essential fairness of the

3 provisions herein establishing the amount of future lease payments. The parties hereby express their desire and intent that any and all future lease agreements by and between the parties shall contain the same or substantially similar provisions for determining the amount of future lease payments. 1988: The Lummi Nation and Whatcom County enter into a lease agreement dated to begin on February 14, The lease terms required an exchange of real property from the Lummi Nation and the County, an option to negotiate a second 25-year period, and that the agreement would not be valid or binding unless approved by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior. Both Lummi and the County signed the agreement but it was never signed by the Department of Interior. The 25-year term of the agreement ended on February 14, Lummi is in effect making two contradictory claims: 1) there was no agreement because the BIA did not sign it; 2) the agreement ended on February 14, The County s view is different: there is an agreement, pursuant to the 1982 consent decree, into which both Lummi and the County entered. That agreement doesn t disappear. While the agreement arguably may not be enforceable as to the tidelands at this point because the BIA has not yet signed it, the agreement still exists. Lummi, having entered into the agreement subject to the terms of the federal consent decree, is not in a position to effectively repudiate the agreement. In terms of the negotiations, Lummi in the consent decree committed itself to accept a measure of compensation that is based upon the fair market value of the land involved. 1998: The Lummi Nation notifies Whatcom County Executive that the parties should start negotiating terms for a new agreement, primarily because the 1988 lease agreement was not signed by the U.S. Department of Interior s Bureau of Indian Affairs. County indicated that they would like to begin renegotiations of the lease during The County Executive recalls that he initiated contact with LIBC s then-chair, Darryl Hillaire, to begin negotiations on the 25-year renewal term at about this time. He and Mr. Hillaire talked about a number of traffic improvements that Lummi wanted to have the County perform. In any event, the County since 1996 has performed a significant number of traffic improvements on and immediately adjacent to Lummi Reservation. The County has spent over $6 million from its own road fund in the execution of these projects from 1996 to the present. These projects and the County expenditures are detailed on the accompanying spreadsheet.

4 2000: The Lummi Nations cooperates with Whatcom County, allowing lease of tribal land for a parking lot at the ferry dock. 2002: The Lummi Nation obtains funding and installs streetlights on Haxton Way south of Smokehouse Road, to make conditions safer for everyone who uses it. December 16, 2002: United States, Lummi Nation v. Keith E. Milner and Shirley A. Milner The court rules that the older cases confirming tribal ownership of the tidelands on the Lummi Reservation (United States v. Romaine; United States v. Stotts; United States v. Boynton) may not be re-litigated at this time and were correct decisions. 2003: Lummi Nation adopts a mission statement for the Lummi Island Ferry that includes the following requirements: safety for everyone using Haxton Way, mitigate impacts to treaty fishing, develop Gooseberry Point area to its highest and best use, provide a safe harbor for tribal fishers, preserve good public relations with the greater community for economic development. 2004: The Lummi Nation and Whatcom County jointly make application for federal dollars to build a multi-modal transportation facility, including ferry, bus, car and bicycles, at Gooseberry Point. No funds obtained : Numerous meetings are held between the Lummi Nation and Whatcom County to discuss the future of the Lummi Island ferry terminal at Gooseberry Point. At the Lummi Nation s suggestions, Whatcom County also completes several studies including a traffic safety study and a ferry dock relocation feasibility study. Joint efforts were also made to secure federal funding for a tribal marina at Gooseberry Point and a new ferry dock. 2005: Numerous efforts are made by Lummi Nation, independently and jointly with Whatcom County, to obtain federal assistance in addressing the dangerous conditions

5 on Haxton Way. Lummi Nation representatives meet with Senator Murray s staff and others from Washington s confessional delegation, but receive no federal assistance. May 2009: Whatcom County proposes a 5-year extension of the 1985 agreement for $2,716 per month, 9$35,592 per year). October 9, 2009: United States and Lummi Nation v. Milner The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the federal district court rulings in the same case and affirmed tribal ownership of the Reservation tidelands. December 2009: Lummi Nation proposes a 5-year term that includes payments as well as an emphasis on projects to increase community safety. The proposal included payments of $605,000 for the first year and $310,000 in the subsequent four years, plus completion of two sidewalk projects, installation of two or more electronic speed advisory signs, maintenance and sanitation facilities at ferry landing, and free passage for tribal members and employees. February 2010: Interim agreement reached in recognition of on-going productive negotiations under which the County agreed it would pay Lummi monthly payments of $16, 677 (equivalent to $200,000 per year). The U.S. Department of Interior s Bureau of Indian Affairs did not sign this but verbally agreed to this temporary agreement. 2010: The Lummi Nation and Whatcom County jointly send a letter asking Senator Patty Murray and Senator Maria Cantwell to request federal funding to alleviate traffic dangers on Haxton Way and other reservation streets leading from the Lummi Island Ferry. But no funding is obtained. The federal government has not yet adopted a budget since the request was made. Limited availability of federal funds at this point in history makes it questionable whether federal funds will be appropriated for these traffic improvements.

6 2010: The Lummi Nation informs Senator Byron Dorgan s staff about dangerous conditions on Haxton Way. May 10, 2010: The Lummi Nation and Whatcom County reach a tentative threepart agreement. Agreement is following nine meetings over a 5-month period and pending approval by respective councils. Agreement is for a lease with a 35-year term. Part 1 of the agreement is an intergovernmental framework agreement. Part 2 is a tideland use agreement for $200,000 per year plus adjustments based on the consumer price index (CPI). Part 3 is an upland use agreement for $110,000 per year plus adjustments based on the CPI but with the ability to buy down payments to $0 by implementing $8 million in traffic safety projects. Also included a $4 million payment if marina projected permitted and designed around ferry terminal. Parties calculate that agreement could be paid for by raising current ferry rates by $2.51 per person if the marina project is permitted, by raising the rates by $2.07 per person if no marina project is permitted. To characterize what happened on May 10 as an agreement on the terms of a lease significantly overstates what occurred. Lummi Nation was impatient with the pace of progress of negotiations and wanted the County Council to respond to its offer. The County s negotiating team, having repeatedly tried to ground the negotiations in what it thought the Council would be able to accept, with no illusions or misrepresentations about the likelihood of County Council approval agreed to place the Lummi offer before County Council for action. The County Council, facing an increasingly gloomy financial prognosis for the County due to the economic downturn, rather decisively rejected the offer and indicated that it was not willing to pay more than $200,000 per year. The Council s position was conveyed orally to Lummi chair Henry Cagey in June, shortly after it acted on Lummi s offer. May 17, 2010: United States Supreme Court denies petition to rehear United States and Lummi Nation v. Milner and Mary D. Sharp v. United States, which ends the court proceeding regarding trespass on tribal tidelands.

7 July 30, 2010: The Lummi Nation restates the terms of the tentative agreement reached by the negotiation teams in May 2010 in a letter to the County Council. This statement by Lummi reiterates the misstatement of what occurred at the May 10, 2010 negotiation session. No tentative agreement was reached at that time. August 12, 2010: Whatcom County Council states in a letter to the Lummi Nation that it rejects the terms of the May 2010 tentative agreement; offer $200,000 per year for a 25-year term (no CPI adjustment) for the ferry terminal and for an area adequate for parking needs. September 8, 2010: Negotiation teams for both parties agree to seek an outside mediator. November 23, 2010: Whatcom County Council votes to increase round trip far for the Lummi Island ferry by $3.00 per person effective on January 23, November 29, 2010: A 10-hour mediation session takes place, but no agreement is reached. December 10, 2010: The Lummi Nation makes a new offer: 25-year term, $200,000 per year with CPI adjustment, and $10 million for safety projects during the first 8 years of the lease. January 25, 2011: Whatcom County responds with best and final offer for a 25- year term agreement with an annual payment of $200,000 per year with a CPI adjustment.

8 January 28, 2011: The Lummi Nation notifies Whatcom County that the County offer does not address traffic safety and notifies the County that any outstanding offers from Lummi Nation are revoked. February 10, 2011: The Lummi Nation sends letter to Whatcom County notifying County that it has 60 days to terminate ferry service from Gooseberry Point. The Lummi Nation also refuses monthly payment associated with interim agreement. The County continues to offer compensation monthly of $16,667 for use of the land necessary for the ferry operation. April 10, 2011: End of 60 day period.