The lumber itself is harvested from land held in trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for the benefit of the tribe.

[2][1] The Superior Court of Maricopa County, Arizona, granted a summary judgment to the state and both the tribe and Pinetop appealed.

The state argued that Pinetop was not part of the tribe and were not owned by Indians, and therefore the tax applied.

[2] Both the tribe and Pinetop appealed, but the Arizona Supreme Court declined to review the decision.

Here, the federal government, through the BIA, extensively regulated and controlled the timber operation and are so pervasive as to preclude any state taxation of the non-Indian contractor.