Some residents on Lac du Flambeau Reservation implore feds to resolve roads dispute

LAC DU FLAMBEAU – Time is running out for non-tribal member homeowners on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation in northern Wisconsin who fear road access could be once again cut off to their properties.

Tribal officials had barricaded the four roads on the reservation Jan. 31, stranding non-tribal residents of some 65 properties by cutting off the only access for vehicle traffic to their homes.

Tribal officials said the easement agreement for the roads expired more than 10 years ago and the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and the title insurance companies that handle the properties had not negotiated in good faith to extend the agreements.

Officials with the non-tribal government town of Lac du Flambeau on the reservation held a special meeting March 11 and accepted the tribe’s offer to remove the barricades for 90 days in exchange for $60,000 while negotiations for a more permanent solution continue.

One possible solution officials are discussing is a proposed referendum that would ask for an additional $1 million a year from town residents, payable to the Lac du Flambeau Tribe, in exchange for all the roads remaining open to the public.

Meanwhile, the temporary agreement that reopened the roads is set to expire this month as lawsuits are being argued in court.

Property owners sued the tribe in federal court in February demanding that the roads be reopened due to public safety concerns.

The federal government in April sided with the tribe in an amicus brief in that case, Pollard et al v. Johnson, recognizing the tribe’s sovereignty.

And on Wednesday, a federal judge signaled he won’t force the tribe to permanently reopen the roads in that case.

The federal government filed a counter lawsuit against the town in June alleging that the town knowingly allowed people to trespass on tribal land.

Affected residents are imploring federal officials to help resolve the issue and find a way to permanently reopen the roads.

Residents of more than two dozen properties sent a letter to Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D) and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany (R), who represents much of northern Wisconsin, urging them to work collectively with their parties to help resolve the issue that was created by the federal government in the first place.

The homeowners argue that the Dawes Act passed by Congress in the late 19^th century had allowed non-tribal residents to purchase property on tribal land in the first place.

“This situation was caused by Congress, and as such, we believe Congress needs to step in to resolve it in a way that is beneficial to both the tribe and the property owners,” read a letter by the homeowners to Baldwin and Tiffany. “We understand that you both sit on opposite sides of the fence. We request that you put this aside and work together in a bipartisan manner to develop a federal solution to this situation. We expect that you will commit to doing this for the benefit of all parties.”

Homeowner Mary Possin said residents are growing frustrated with the lack of response from officials.

“Many homeowners have been collectively imploring Tammy Baldwin and Tom Tiffany to work on a federal solution yet, despite what must be at least dozens, if not more than a hundred, phone calls and messages, they have been utterly non-responsive except to say we should ‘contact the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) and that they continue to monitor the situation,” she wrote to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

She said Baldwin had continued to assert that this is a local issue and Tiffany has recently been ignoring the situation, which Possin said is preferable to earlier damaging statements by Tiffany.

Earlier this year, Tiffany had written a scathing letter to the Lac du Flambeau Tribal President John Johnson in which he said that closing the roads appears to be a shakedown attempt by the tribe and had threatened legislative action.

Tiffany’s office maintains that they have been working to resolve the issue everyday and that the tone in the congressman’s letter was in response to the aggressiveness of the tribe in closing the roads.

Tiffany’s office argues that the BIA still hasn’t shown appraisal value for the roads in question and that they could be worth anywhere between $2,000 and the $20 million that the tribe is asking for.

Tiffany and Sen. Ron Johnson (R) released a joint statement on Thursday addressing the issue.

“It has been months since we asked the tribal leaders, their Minneapolis attorney, and the Biden administration to release the cost appraisals of these rights-of-way and begin good faith negotiations to find a solution,” the statement read. “Apparently, they haven’t agreed to do either of those things. Unfortunately, when you’re more interested in brinksmanship than talking to your neighbors, it makes it difficult to hash out a compromise. The Biden administration has made things even worse by deploying the full force of the Justice Department against the town. We don’t agree with Governor Evers or Senator Baldwin on many issues, but we should all agree that the first step to getting a resolution is to turn down the temperature and communicate.”

Baldwin’s office also maintains that they have been working with Gov. Tony Evers’ administration to resolve the issue.

“We remain frustrated and disappointed by the lack of collective work done to resolve this issue permanently,” read a May 26 joint letter from Baldwin and Evers to interested parties. “It is long past time for mediation. “We are extremely disappointed that mediation has yet to occur. This delay harms the people of Wisconsin, whether they are Tribal members, impacted homeowners, or other members of our communities. A lack of action will not help tensions and are a threat to the well-being of the individuals directly involved and the greater community.”

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: Barricades continue to cut off vehicle access for some on Lac du Flambeau Reservation