While media attention has been focused on Thursday's task force meetings to thrash out details for a potential special session of the Minnesota legislature, the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council will meet as well.
On the agenda again? White Earth Nation's proposal for protecting forest wildlife habitat in the Wild Rice River Watershed. A memo online about the agenda item notes:
To provide clarity for staff with regard to the council’s intent, staff asks for council discussion of the
following three items:
1. Review and discussion of the language variations listed on the back of this page.
2. In the December meeting motion, the White Earth Nation and DNR are directed to collaborate to create a special hunting zone for the property. At least one member emphasizes that it would be primary and preemptory to release of grant monies. As such, any land acquisition would be required to occur subsequent to creation of a hunting zone. Is this the intent of the council?
3. With #1 in mind, it would seem that continued ownership of the land by the White Earth Nation would also be conditional upon continued successful implementation of the management plan and that failure to do so would result in reversion of ownership of the land from Trust land being held for the White Earth Nation to ownership by the State of Minnesota. Is this the intent of the council?
Although the proposal is regarded as being of very high quality for securing the goal of protecting forest wildlife habitat, the potential ownership of the land by the White Earth Nation of Ojibwe has met with resistance on the part of some Council members.
Here's the memo:
Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council Jan 7 2016 Agenda Item 5b FA09
We'll listen to the audio of the discussion as it becomes available after the meeting.
Photo: Land in the Wild Rice River Watershed project.
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