Town asking if Wisconsin will give back land to Lac du Flambeau to settle road use dispute

Editor's note: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified John Leiber as making statements on behalf of the Board of Commissions of Public Lands. It was Tom German, executive secretary for that Board, who made the statements.

Leaders of the nontribal Town of Lac du Flambeau are asking state officials if they would consider giving land back to an Ojibwe tribe to resolve a 19-month long dispute over the use of roads on the tribe's reservation.

Tribal authorities had barricaded four roads on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation , stranding dozens of nontribal homeowners living on properties they own located within the reservation. Tribal officials said they made the move because the lease to use the roads expired more than 10 years ago, and they were frustrated at being, in their words, ignored over trespassing concerns.

The barricades have since been removed and the roads reopened after the tribe reached an agreement in which the town would pay an increasing monthly fee to keep them open until a more permanent resolution could be reached.

Last month, the town proposed an offer of $1.8 million to settle the dispute. The tribe rejected that proposal; it had been asking for $10 million to pay for past trespassing and legal fees. But tribal officials also notified town officials they would be willing to accept returned land as part of a proposal to settle the dispute.

This month, the town informed the tribe that it was unable, not unwilling, to pay the $50,000 fee for the roads to remain open until Sept. 12. Tribal officials responded that if the fee was not paid, the roads would be closed again. At that point, the title insurance companies that handle the properties affected by the roads dispute stepped in to pay the $50,000 fee to keep the roads open until Sept. 12.

On Friday, Aug. 23 the town held a special meeting to discuss the possibility of ceding land back to the tribe. Town officials observed that they actually don’t own land to give to the tribe, but they invited Tom German to walk through how the state may be able to help.

German is the executive secretary for the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, Wisconsin’s oldest state agency. Current commissioners for the Board are State Treasurer John Lieber, Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski and Attorney General Josh Kaul.

The board was created in 1848 to manage 1.5 million acres of land that was given to the state by the federal government. The federal government had taken much of that land from Ojibwe tribes, including Lac du Flambeau.

The board was to use the land to support public schools and libraries, and sold virtually all of it, with proceeds deposited into the state’s Common School Fund.

The board still manages about 75,000 acres of land, explained German, with some of it near the Lac du Flambeau Reservation. He said state officials may be willing to negotiate to give some of that land back to the tribe to settle the roads dispute.

Town Chairman Matt Gaulke said he invited several state and federal elected officials to the meeting to ask them if they’d be willing to support giving land and/or funds to the tribe to settle the dispute.

A representative from Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s office who was attendance said the senator stands ready to assist and will wait for a more concrete request.

A representative from Sen. Ron Johnson’s office, Tom Petri, turned up the rhetoric. “The fact that we’re still here … frustrates the hell out of the senator,” he said.

Petri said that the devil would be in the details of any proposal, but said Johnson maintains an open mind. He added that any solution involving Congressional legislation would not be the way to go because the path would be too long and arduous.

Gaulke also asked the elected officials if they’d be willing to support any plan by nontribal law enforcement to force the tribe to keep the roads open on tribal land.

Congressman Tom Tiffany, who was in attendance, said he would support that.

“Public money goes into the roads on the reservation,” he said. “I believe they cannot be barricaded in a legal way.”

Tiffany also questioned why U.S. Department of Justice would support the tribe in barricading the roads. Last year, the DOJ filed an amicus brief in support of the tribe’s sovereign right to close the roads when it was sued by some homeowners.

Wisconsin State Sen. Mary Felzkowski, who was in attendance, said her relationship with the tribe over the roads dispute has become very antagonistic.

She said she feels the homeowners are being held hostage and “it’s kind of like giving in to terrorists and I don’t like it.” Felzkowski said she would like everyone to compromise, which would mean that no one gets 100% of what they want.

Gaulke explained how the roads dispute has affected the community of tribal members and nontribal members who live as neighbors. He said he grew up in the area and is saddened by the situation.

“For this issue to tear this community the way that it has, really hurts me personally,” Gaulke said.

He said he’s hoping the state and U.S. governments step in to help resolve the issue.

Gaulke set a timeframe of two weeks for the state and federal elected officials to respond in writing to the proposal of possibly giving land and/or funding to the tribe.

Frank Vaisvilas is a former Report for America corps member who covers Native American issues in Wisconsin based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact him at fvaisvilas@gannett.com or 815-260-2262. Follow him on Twitter at @vaisvilas_frank .

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Town asking if Wisconsin will give back land to Lac du Flambeau to settle road use dispute