 Bradley H. Patterson, Jr., a member of the Ford administration, evaluated the tribe's claim and concluded that "Maine's tribes stood to gain a sizeable portion of that state" if the federal government went forward and litigated the dispute on behalf of the tribe, to which the court had declared the tribe was entitled.Patterson evaluated various other options, and recommended a land and cash settlement; however, in December 1976, Ford decided to pass this issue to the next administration