Judge dismisses suit seeking to remove roadblocks set up by Wisconsin's Lac du Flambeau tribe

Associated Press
·2 min read
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A roadblock is seen along Annie Sunn Lane on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, at Lac du Flambeau town hall in Lac du Flambeau, Wis. A special town board meeting was held to receive public comment and deliberate over the town’s course of action in response to Lac du Flambeau reservation tribal officials erecting barricades along four roads in the area. Tribal officials set up barricades on the roads Jan. 30 after negotiations with property title companies that built the roads and the homes they access broke down. Tribal officials say the roads were illegally built on tribal lands and the tribe was not compensated for the right-of-way easements.Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

A federal judge Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to block a northern Wisconsin tribe from barricading roads on its reservation, saying the nontribal land owners who brought the action didn't have a case under federal law.

The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has been locked in a heated dispute with the town of Lac du Flambeau and 21 nontribal land owners since January, when tribal leaders first set up barriers on four reservation roadways they said were being illegally used.

U.S. District Judge William Conley in Madison signaled in June that he wouldn't force the tribe to remove barricades while the lawsuit played out. In an order issued Tuesday, he dismissed the lawsuit altogether and sided with the tribal council, saying it has sovereign rights over the roadways and that a federal court doesn't have the jurisdiction to force it to keep the roads open to the public.

About a decade ago, land agreements expired that allowed nontribal people to use the roads to move onto reservation land, and to build homes and businesses there. The agreements haven't been renewed. Title companies representing the land owners want permanent right-of-way agreements, but the tribe has said it's only willing to offer 25-year leases.

In February, land owners brought the lawsuit, seeking to remove the barricades, and the tribe agreed in March to open the roads for 90 days in exchange for $60,000.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a separate lawsuit in May, asking Conley to force the town of Lac du Flambeau to pay damages to the tribe for failing to renew the land agreements. In negotiations with the town, the tribal council adopted a resolution that month calling for access payments to be set at $22,000 for the month of June and increase by $2,000 every month going forward. So far, the town has complied.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Lac du Flambeau tribe roadblocks can stay, after judge dismisses suit