Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit September 25, 2000, Docket No. 99-6042 (Connecticut ex rel. Blumenthal v. United States Department of the Interior)

JOHN M. WALKER, JR. Circuit Judge:

Defendants-appellants, the United States Department of the Interior; Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior; Kevin Gover, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs; and Franklin Keel, Eastern Area Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs (collectively, the “defendants” or the “federal defendants”) appeal from a December 16,1998 judgment of the United