ISMITH@HRASSOC.COM

HISTORY DIVISION MANAGER / PRINCIPAL HISTORIAN – MISSOULA OFFICE

Since joining HRA in 2000, Ian Smith has worked primarily on historical-legal studies related to Indian land and water rights, navigability of waterways, cleanup of contaminated sites, and land-use issues in the West. Now serving as HRA’s History Division manager, Ian has extensive experience researching in a wide array of federal, state, and local archival repositories, as well as having written several expert historical reports and provided expert witness testimony at trial and in deposition. Among the issues about which Ian has submitted expert reports and/or provided testimony in court proceedings are the water rights claims of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and the Navajo Nation, taxation issues affecting the Tulalip Tribes, the alleged diminishment of the Red Lake Indian Reservation’s boundaries, and a First Amendment challenge against the U.S. Forest Service involving a Jesus statue on a ski resort in Montana. Ian provides his clients impeccably researched, meticulously sourced, and well-crafted histories on which they can rely in litigation.

After work, you can usually find Ian either playing music or enjoying the western Montana wilderness by hiking, biking, camping, or skiing with his family.

For more about Ian, please visit LinkedIn.