The Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council will meet tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. in Room 5 of the State Office Building, with some observers bracing for another round of drama over a request by White Earth Nation (Ojibwe) for a project to protect forest wildlife habitat in the Wild Rice River watershed.
Although considered to be a well-designed project to protect wildlife habitat--one of the constitutional missions of the Council--the ownership of the land by a band of Ojibwe spawned objections. Perhaps the best recent overview of the conflict is by Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Gunderson, Money, race, politics tangle northern Minnesota land deal, a dispatch aired just before the October 6th meeting of the Council. During the October meeting, the LSOHC voted to recommend that White Earth Nation receive a grant in the amount of $2,188,000 for this project.
At the November 5 meeting, the project came up again, with many of the same reasons for support and objection. Opponents of the proposal attempted to take advantage of one of the agenda items and remove the Wild Rice River from consideration. The agenda called for a discussion of the progress of draft “accomplishment plans” prepared by applicants whose projects have been recommended for funding. These plans detail what will be achieved through the projects and form the basis of the bill LSOHC staff will prepare and submit to the Legislature in January for the appropriation bill.
Rep. Denny McNamara, R-Hastings, posits that it was premature to review and approve the draft accomplishment plans, noting that inclusion of White Earth Nation’s project is a deal-breaker for him. Other Council members vigorously objected, and the project remains in the Draft Bill in the packet for tomorrow's meeting.
More on November's discussion below--here's the draft bill:
Dec 3 2015 Memo Item 8 Draft Bill
Will the worthy project survive tomorrow's meeting? Here's the agenda, which allows for public comment. A shorter version, from the legislative calendar:
Room: 5 State Office Building
Chair: Bob Anderson
Agenda: Call to order
1. Review and Approve Agenda
2. Review and Approve Minutes
3. Members Report any Conflict of Interest on Today's Agenda
4. Executive Director's Report
a. Staff update on status/final reports
b. Land Acquisition Report update
5. Action: Adopt 2016 Council Schedule
6. Action: RFP/Call Criteria
7. Treasurer Report: November Forecast
8. Action: Draft Bill Language
9. Opportunity for Public to Address the Council
More on November 5 discussion
Here's part of the audio from the discussion (full audio here)
After McNamara insists that there are not enough votes for the package that would be presented to the legislature, council chair and International Falls mayor Bob Anderson supports that claim.
Council member Jane Kingston, a supporter of the White Earth Nation's project raises the question, “Who does not like it, again?” That question leads to a discussion of the vote taken at the October meeting. Sue Olson, a hard-nosed corporate lawyer who supports the project, notes that a roll call vote was taken when the Council recommended that White Earth Nation’s project receive funding
McNamara reminds his Council peers that he was an “oral dissent” in October.
As the council retreads the same ground it went over in October, an exasperated Kingston asks, “Did we come here for nothing? . . . Let’s go home.”
The discussion continues: just listen to heard McNamara hold forth. We edited the audio, going forward White Earth's consultant Chris Knopf testify, describing the shared system of tribal and non-tribal hunting and fishing regulations. anderson considers this system to be “racially discriminatory.”
Knopf patiently explains that White Earth Nation and the other bands had all the property rights at the time of settlement of Minnesota ceding some these rights through the treaty process, but retaining other rights relating to hunting and fishing result in the shared system. It's worth a listen to understand the legal issues.
As we noted, the proposal is in the draft bill. Will McNamara try to kill the proposal yet again? He tenacious that way, though that tenacity seems all out of proportion when it comes to this project.
Here is the proposal itself:
White Earth Nation LSOH Grant Request 2015-2
Photo: Hastings Republican Denny McNamara, who so does not want White Earth Nation to own and manage this project.
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