Outdoor News highlights PERM Letter to President Trump

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It is available for archival research and includes everything posted up to Nobember 10, 2018.
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November 10 UPDATE

1855 Ceded Territory potential lawsuit UPDA

[Reprinted from Outdoor News]
GULL LAKE SENTENCING JUST THE BEGINNING?
By Tim Spielman Outdoor News, November 8, 2018

It's been just over three years since four people were cited for testing the bounds of Indian treaty rights in Minnesota--in this case the illegal setting of gill nets in Gull Lake near Brainerd in August 2015. On Oct. 23, a judge sentenced defendant James Warren Northrup on four counts. The 50-year-old was found guilty in September.

Fines for Northrup total $235, according to Doug Meyenburg, president of Proper Economic Resource Management, a watch group whose particular interest tends to be tribal in the realm of hunting and fishing rights.

As most tribal protest cases go, this one, too, holds much intrigue.

Northrup was one of four original defendants in the demonstration on Gull--a gathering that was promoted by attorneys and covered by media both during and after. The cases against three of the defendants were tossed out.

Also, according to Meyenburg, three judges recused themselves before the current judge, Jana Austad, of the 9th Judicial District, agree to hear the case.

Interestingly, Northrup's fines on the four counts for which he was found guilty total $235. He has, however, nearly two years – until Oct. 12, 2020--to pay the fine.

"I don't understand that," Meyenburg said.

Me, neither. But, it probably doesn't matter much in the greater scheme of things. Northrup had jail time stayed (as long as he remains law-abiding), had some fish-netting charges dropped, was fined $50 for not having boat registration, was fined $50 for not having a personal flotation device, and a couple of surcharges totaling $85.

I'm sure if Northrup endures any financial hardship, there are plenty of folks, including possibly his attorneys, who happily take up a collection. After all, legal folks for the Indian bands in the 1855 Treaty territory have much greater aspirations. Unlike other treaty areas in Minnesota, the language in the 1855 Treaty didn't offer explicit hunting/fishing/ricing rights. But that's not to say they weren't implicit, tribal lawyers have said. In fact, there already exists case language that's drawn parallels between the 1837 Treaty (known by most for its leading to Lake Mille Lacs "co-management").

Regarding an appeal in the Northrup case, Meyenburg said, "I haven't seen anything, but usually..when it's a tribal (matter) and they're out to make a point..they want to get it up into the appeals court."

Three years after the original protest/net-setting in Crow Wing County's popular Gull, we still very well may be in the early stages of another tribal rights saga regarding the state’s natural resources, this time across a massive swath of northern Minnesota.

MLFAC - UPDATE

Good news for Mille Lacs?
By Javier Serna Outdoor News, Vol. 51, No. 45

Assistant Editor Javier Mille Lacs committee gets some good news reported on the latest Mille Lacs Fishery Advisory Committee meeting held on October 5th. MLFAC focused on recent DNR assessments and the possibility of open water harvests next summer.

The big question from MLFAC, since walleye numbers keep increasing according to the DNR, will any be harvested this summer? So far a strong year class hasn't been enough to get the DNR past its apprehension about its being targeted. That left anglers tossing everything back and quotas mostly made up of "hooking mortality."

Now, another decent year class (2014), data showing a walleye population three times the size from the last assessment, after years of restrictive regulations might open the door to the actual harvest of walleye. The 2017 year-class is looking good as well. However, the DNR wants to see the class look good for two years before thinking about harvest.

A lot of questions remain regarding the relationship between forage and walleye abundance and condition. Assumptions aren't always matching anglers' experience.

Hope for some walleye harvest next open water season is growing. Which makes managing expectations key for the DNR. One way was attempting to find out what mattered most to committee members.

Options such as ending the night ban or adding an hour in the evening when anglers may fish among others were discussed. But that all "will increase in the amount of pressure" according to Brad Parsons, DNR Fisheries chief. To which committee member Steve Johnson said that at some point "you need to do it and try it."

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October 31 UPDATES

1855 Ceded Territory potential lawsuit UPDATE
Defendant in Gull Lake netting case sentenced

Defendant James Warren Northrup faced charges following an August 2015 protest over 1855 Treaty harvest rights, a protest that involved illegal netting on Gull Lake. A September 12 ruling by the Court found defendant Northrup guilty on all four counts brought by Crow Wing County Attorney Donald Ryan.

A Crow Wing County District Court then filed a sentencing order on October 23, 2018, on the following counts:

On Count #1, taking fish with nets, Northrup was sentenced to one year in the Crow Wing County Jail. One year of that time was stayed for two years on the condition that the defendant remain law-abiding. He was also fined $50.

Count #2, netting fish without a license, was dropped as it was a lesser charge, again using nets, but specifying certain fish species.

On Count #3 lack of watercraft registration sticker, Northrup was fined $50.

On count #4, lack of personal flotation device, Northrup was fined $50.

Fines included an additional $75 for a criminal surcharge and $10 for the Law Library for a total of $235. Northrup has until October 12, 2020, to pay.

If the Court's ruling is appealed as expected, the case may have far more consequences than the Mille Lacs 1837 Treaty case.

** The case applies to the entire 1855 ceded territory area (1,400+ square miles) including Brainerd lakes and most of northern Minnesota's large lakes. It also includes a part of Mille Lacs, which then includes the entire lake based on the "contiguous waters" principle.

** The case is trying to establish that off-reservation hunting, fishing, gathering rights are actually determined by the Tribal Executive Committee, NOT the by the wording of any specific Treaty.

** The case's biggest threat comes from the tribe's addition of "property rights" to claimed treaty harvest rights. Recognizing property rights will have land-use management implications far beyond wildlife harvest. (See analysis of consequences here.)

PERM stands by all treaties with the tribes as they are written.

PERM encourages its members and anglers to attend
Mille Lacs Fishery Advisory Committee meets Monday, Nov. 5th

The Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee will meet from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5, at McQuoid's Inn, 1325 State Highway 47 in Isle. The agenda will cover winter regulations, fall assessment and walleye population estimate results, a creel update, and discussion around lake management planning. Members of the public are welcome to attend and observe these meetings, and 15 minutes during the middle of each meeting is reserved for public comments and questions.

Mille Lacs Winter Walleye Regs
Lake Mille Lacs winter anglers allowed 1 walleye starting Dec. 1

Winter anglers on Lake Mille Lacs will be allowed to keep walleye on Mille Lacs starting Saturday, Dec. 1, with no bait restrictions and a limit of one walleye between 21-23 inches, or one fish over 28 inches.

The DNR is "encouraged to see evidence that [their] conservative approach to Mille Lacs is paying off to the point [of] seeing population increases . . ." However, in spite of the number of walleyes over 14 inches nearly tripling in Mille Lacs over the past five years, some year-classes remain below normal. That's enough for concern that "opening up additional harvest too fast or too soon could jeopardize the population increases we're seeing."

The walleye bite is expected to be quite good on Mille Lacs this winter due to low forage levels.

See Press Release discussion of assessments, estimates, and a cautious approach to interpreting the results here.

Fodder for Decision
Minnesota gubernatorial candidates Tim Walz, Jeff Johnson state their cases on the outdoors

Outdoors Writer Dennis Anderson Interview Excerpt
Star Tribune October 29

Q Can management of Lake Mille Lacs be improved?

Johnson: I'm not an expert on the lake, its resources or its management, but co-management of the lake as it is currently administered isn't working. Mille Lacs has an amazing history, but right now it's not there for the benefit and enjoyment of everyone. We have a court decision in place, and I'll follow it. But as governor, and with whomever I pick as DNR commissioner, I'll bargain hard with the Chippewa bands to ensure the resource is managed better.

Walz: The Mille Lacs controversy has to do with sovereignty and relationships, and also climate and the changing lake. Let's be clear: The treaty and the U.S. Supreme Court decision are the law of the land. I reject any attempt to go to the Supreme Court again to overturn the 1837 treaty. That's not going to happen. Nor do we want it to. But there is potential for the state and the Chippewa to work better together. Improving the lake is in everyone's interest.

Blainbrook - UPDATE
SAVE the (new) date!

PERM's 'SAVE MINNESOTA' Dinner and Fundraiser will be held on a FRIDAY. It will be held from 5 to 9 pm on Friday, December 7th.

An updated entree this year will be a ham and chicken combo, a change-up to go with the new date.

Grand Door Prize will be a Borderview Lodge Fishing Trip Certificate--three nights, two days with meals for two people--valued at over $1,100!

Byron Robyn is returning as our MC and auctioneer.

Watch for PERM's bright yellow "Save the Date and Register" postcard sweepstakes. It could be worth $50 if you bring it to Blainbrook!

Doug
Douglas Meyenburg
President, PERM

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October 23 UPDATES

PERM Letter to the President - UPDATE
Wisconsin Outdoor News features PERM letter to President Trump

We are happy to see Wisconsin Outdoor News also highlighting PERM's letter to the President. They referenced Minnesota Outdoor News Editor Tim Spielman's take on PERM's Letter and included the full text of the letter. Spielman called PERM's letter an "unprecedented step ... that's needed if [we] wish to see meaningful change."

Makes sense. A large part of the 1837 Treaty ceded territory is in Wisconsin. They face many of the same "co-management" issues as we do here in Minnesota.

PERM is asking the President to rectify a US Supreme Court's 1999 decision--as suggested in that same ruling--regarding the 1837 Treaty's temporary Treaty harvest rights.

If you haven't already, please join us in making sure our message is heard loud and clear! Just print a copy (see below) to mail President Trump using the letter's address. (Yes, mail. A mailed letter gets--and requires--more attention.)

There are spaces on both pages to write in your personal comment about this request. (Be sure to include your address and signature.) Or include your comment, address, and signature on a separate paper instead.

Let's make this issue a priority for President Trump!
[President Letter printer-friendly download here]

1855 Ceded Territory potential lawsuit - UPDATE
Judge in Gull Lake netting case finds defendant GUILTY on all four counts

On September 5th, Ninth Judicial District Judge Jana Austad heard arguments regarding defendant James Northrup who was charged with illegally setting a gill net in Gull Lake. Northrup claims that he is protected under the treaty rights drawn up between tribes and the U.S. Government in 1855.

A September 12 ruling by the Court found defendant Northrup guilty on all four counts brought by Crow Wing County Attorney Donald Ryan:
Count 1- Illegal Means of Taking Fish
Count 2- Netting Fish Without a License
Count 3- Operating Watercraft Without Registration
Count 4- Using Watercraft Without Personal Flotation or Lifesaving Devices

If the Court's ruling is appealed as expected, the case potentially has more far-reaching consequences than the Mille Lacs 1837 Treaty case, for several reasons. (See an analysis of consequences here)

** The case applies to the entire 1855 ceded territory area (900,000 acres or 1,400+ square miles) including the Brainerd lakes area along with most of northern Minnesota's large lakes. It also includes a small portion of Mille Lacs Lake, which means the entire lake if the usual "contiguous waters" principle is applied. (See map at perm.org.)

** The case is trying to establish that off-reservation hunting, fishing, gathering rights are actually determined by the Tribal Executive Committee, NOT the by the wording of any specific Treaty. "This committee determines whether or not people have rights to go outside the area they were historically enrolled in" according to Tribal defense attorney John Plumer in a September 6 Brainerd Dispatch report. That would allow the 1855 Treaty's ceded territory--currently without any off-reservation hunting, fishing, gathering rights--to "inherit" rights from any other treaty.

** The case's biggest threat comes from the tribe's addition of "property rights" to claimed treaty harvest rights. Defense attorney Plumer stated that "[We are] exercising our hunting, fishing, gathering of properties, as it is our property rights" according to the Brainerd Dispatch report. Recognizing property rights will have land-use management implications far beyond wildlife harvest.

PERM stands by all treaties with the tribes as they are written.

Details on a sentencing hearing, held October 12, are pending. PERM will post the Court's sentence as soon as it is published.

Blainbrook - UPDATE
What's new for PERM's 'SAVE MINNESOTA' Dinner and Fundraiser

** NEW DATE PERM's 'SAVE MINNESOTA' Dinner and Fundraiser will be held on a FRIDAY. It will be held from 5 to 9 pm on Friday, December 7th. Save the Date!

** NEW MENU The entree this year will be a ham and chicken combo, a change-up to celebrate TGIF. AND PERM members' resilience in supporting equal protection of the law for ALL citizens access to Minnesota's natural resources.

RETURNING

** Grand Door Prize: Borderview Lodge Fishing Trip Certificate--three nights, two days with meals for two people.

** Auctioneer: Byron Robyn, MC and auctioneer extraordinaire. Watch for PERM's bright yellow "Save the Date and Register" postcard. It could be worth $50! If you have not received this card in the past, go to perm.org and Sign up for PERM email UPDATES!

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Outdoor News Editorial on PERM's Letter to President Trump
PERM's letter an "unprecedented step ... that's needed if [we] wish to see meaningful change."

We are happy to read Outdoor News Editor Tim Spielman's take on PERM's letter to President Trump. He also reprinted PERM's letter in its entirety.

(PERM is asking the President to rectify a Supreme Court decision--as suggested in the Court's ruling--regarding the 1837 Treaty's temporary harvest rights. They were defined in the Treaty to exist "during the pleasure of the President of the United States.")

Spielman right away states that resource management involving more than one entity with varied goals and priorities is "seldom ... without its challenges." He adds, notably, "It's not simply when there are Native American governments involved."

He thoughtfully describes the "co-management" situation on Mille Lacs and various parties' response to it. He then describes PERM's letter as an "unprecedented step" in response to the "widespread chant … 'Why doesn't somebody do something?'"

Spielman further describes PERM's letter as "a step that some of us around Outdoor News HQ a few times now have suggested might be the one the disgruntled should take." Spielman then adds, "Yes, after the Supreme Court's decision in 1999 regarding the 1837 treaty, it's a step that dramatic that's needed if the people of PERM and others wish to see meaningful change."

Read Editor Tim Spielman's editorial below.
Read PERM's Letter to President Trump HERE

DEAR MR. TRUMP
Outdoor News, Vol. 51, No. 40, Page 3
OUTDOOR INSIGHT

For years now, we've heard demands from Minnesota anglers that state officials "do something" regarding Lake Mille Lacs and its so-called "co-management" of the resource by the DNR and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. I might be able to count on one hand how many people truly believe it's been an unmitigated success.

Seldom, it seems, is resource management without its challenges when its being done by more than one entity and with varied goals and priorities. And that includes the interactions that occur between, say, the state and federal governments. It's not simply when there are Native American governments involved.

But Mille Lacs, for a variety of reasons, has been particularly messy. State and tribal officials haven't seen eye to eye on what's a reasonable harvest of walleyes from the popular central-Minnesota lake. State anglers, in general, haven't approved of the manner in which--and when--tribal members take their apportionment of walleyes from the lake. Ojibwe bands in Minnesota and Wisconsin that harvest walleyes from the lake have been irked by state anglers taking, in a couple of instances, more than their agreed-upon share.

A citizens advisory group has been created by the DNR.

Experts from outside the agency have been recruited to analyze the lake, its management, and the data-collection methods of our own state natural resources management agency. A DNR office was opened in Garrison, just across the road from the 132,000-acre water body. Gov. Mark Dayton turned the opening of the bass-fishing season into another "opener," for the lake--an event of sorts--then was met by what could be described as an on-the-water protest.

And the widespread chant continues: "Why doesn't somebody do something?" Last month, an unprecedented step was taken that involves--who else?--the president, Donald J. Trump.

Printed to the right of this column is a letter written by Doug Meyenburg, president of Proper Economic Resource Management, better known as PERM. It's a step that some of us around Outdoor News HQ a few times now have suggested might be the one the disgruntled should take. Yes, after the Supreme Court's decision in 1999 regarding the 1837 treaty, it's a step that dramatic that's needed if the people of PERM and others wish to see meaningful change.

In essence, the letter asks for, in the subject line, "terminating the 1837 hunting and fishing privilege of the Chippewa." The odds that it spurs action from the White House? That's hard to say. I'd rate them poor at the moment--there are just a few other things on the front burners at the moment--but who's to say? It's not like peculiarities haven't been part of the first two years of the Trump presidency.

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PERM asks President Trump for Executive Order
As suggested by the US Supreme Court in its 1837 Treaty case ruling

Please read PERM's letter to President Trump below. We are making a very specific request as suggested by the US Supreme Court in its 1999 ruling in Minnesota v. Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians. This letter already has been hand-delivered to the White House.

Join us in making sure our message is heard loud and clear!

Please print a copy to mail President Trump using the letter's address. (Yes, using the mail. It's hands-on. It's delete-click free.)

Then forward this email to friends and family asking them to do the same. Print extra copies to take and share as you can.

Please take action today. Make our message reverberate throughout President Trump's administration!
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[printer friendly download]

October 1, 2018

The Honorable Donald Trump
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Request for Presidential Order Terminating the 1837 Hunting and Fishing Privilege of the Chippewa

Dear Mr. President:

I am writing to you as President of PERM (Proper Economic Resource Management), a Minnesota nonprofit that supported the landowners who intervened in the lawsuit filed by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe against the State of Minnesota. In 1998, this lawsuit reached the United States Supreme Court, where an activist Court erroneously and improperly overruled the 1850 Presidential Order of Zachary Taylor that had revoked the temporary 1837 hunting and fishing privileges, which were defined as being "during the pleasure of the President of the United States."

The four conservative Justices, writing in dissent, summarized their opposition to the Court's decision:

"The Court today invalidates for no principled reason a 149-year-old Executive Order, ignores the plain meaning of a 144-year-old treaty provision, and overrules sub silentio a 103-year-old precedent of this Court." Chief Justice Rehnquist dissenting, Minnesota v. Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians, 526 U.S. 172, 220 (1999).

The 1837 Treaty entrusted to the President of the United States--not the courts--the decision of whether or not to terminate the 1837 hunting and fishing privilege. But it wasn't just President Zachary Taylor that had revoked the 1837 hunting and fishing privilege: his decision to revoke the privilege was affirmed by President Franklin Roosevelt in a 1938 letter. 526 U.S. at 216-217. Instead of giving heightened deference and wide latitude to the Executive Order, the Supreme Court improperly usurped the power granted to the President under the 1837 privilege. In doing so, the United States Supreme Court, in its majority opinion, states:

"We do not mean to suggest that a President, now or in the future, cannot revoke Chippewa usufructuary rights in accordance with the terms of the 1837 Treaty." 526 U.S. at 194.

The effect of the Supreme Court decision has been devastating to Lake Mille Lacs, which used to be the crown jewel of walleye fishing in Minnesota. This, in turn, has devastated the dozens of resorts and businesses that depended upon and supported the fishing community. For a lake that regularly produced half a million pounds of walleye for anglers each year, Lake Mille Lacs has been closed to any non-tribal walleye fishing except catch and release for the third straight year. Numerous resorts and businesses have closed. The widespread financial and natural resource damage caused by the Supreme Court's decision has not been offset by any significant benefit to the Mille Lacs Band, except to buy up properties from landowners whose businesses have failed at bargain basement prices. Nor is the fishing privilege needed for subsistence by the Mille Lacs Band that operates two very successful casinos and today owns major hotels in downtown St. Paul.

The Supreme Court's decision allows the Chippewa to spear and net walleyes during the spawn, a virtually unprecedented action in natural resource management. The State of Minnesota, while trying to co-manage the resource for both this tribal harvest and angler harvest, has brought the walleye population in Lake Mille Lacs to the brink of collapse. Treaty-based management simply does not work, but instead of addressing the problem squarely, the State of Minnesota blames climate change.

The 1837 ceded territory extends from the center of Minnesota eastward across central Wisconsin. This is the heart of Trump country, and the voters who supported you are asking you to hear their pleas to review this matter and issue the Presidential Order.

As President, you have a rare opportunity to correct the Court, which erred egregiously, interfered with the prerogatives vested in the President of the United States under the 1837 Treaty, and overrode other precedents in reaching this unprincipled decision that has done so much damage.

Hunting and fishing is an important recreation in Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is also a key to economic vitality in both central Minnesota and central Wisconsin. Issuing a President Order revoking the 1837 privilege, and reestablishing the decisions made by both Presidents Zachary Taylor and Franklin Roosevelt, would electrify and energize your political base in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The supporters of these hunting and fishing activities in Minnesota and Wisconsin reach far beyond the boundaries of the 1837 Treaty. Your courage in reestablishing the power of the Presidency and the prerogatives of the Presidency in these matters would be widely supported and applauded across Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Mr. President, we have no one to turn to but you. We humbly implore you to hear our plea for action.

With deep respect and hope,

Douglas Meyenburg
President, PERM
763-843-1039 www.perm.org
[printer friendly download]

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Looking to new fisheries chief for results

Last Sunday the Star Tribune carried an article by Tony Kennedy, Mille Lacs among the issues Brad Parsons will take on as Minnesota's new fisheries chief.

Kennedy covered a lot of Parson's background and experience with Mille Lacs. He noted Parson's recognition that Mille Lacs remains a "hot button" issue, "with politics and complicated by biological changes and fishing pressures that are adverse to walleyes."

A positive sign was Parson's interest in expanding "the DNR's informal outreach to people who care about Mille Lacs." That is, beyond the "state-appointed Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee." Kennedy did not mention Parson's long-standing membership on that Committee.

Parsons said the DNR will create a comprehensive lake management plan for Mille Lacs. Hopefully that effort will include MLFAC's input, as it was brought up at the last MLFAC meeting.

Unfortunately the "plan" will not "interfere" with protocols tied to the co-management of Mille Lacs. (Which makes that "half a plan regarding walleyes," according to a comment made at the last MLFAC meeting.)

We hope Parson's promised outreach is a sign of real transparency, and will prevent any future secretly-negotiated agreements with the tribes.

Doug Meyenburg
President PERM

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1855 Ceded Territory potential lawsuit - UPDATE

Judge hears arguments in Gull Lake netting case

PAY ATTENTION MINNESOTA!

Jennifer Kraus' report today (Sept 6) in the Brainerd Dispatch Judge hears arguments in Gull Lake netting case provides important details of a case that potentially has more far-reaching consequences than the Mille Lacs 1837 Treaty case, for several reasons.

High Stakes

The case applies to the entire 1855 ceded territory area (900,000 acres or 1,400+ square miles) including the Brainerd lakes area along with most of northern Minnesota's large lakes. It also includes a small portion of Mille Lacs Lake, which means the entire lake if the usual "contiguous waters" principle is applied. See map at perm.org.

This is not a routine case. It has dragged on now over three years since four tribal members were arrested for illegal rice harvest and gillnetting in Gull Lake. Three of the four tribal members involved in the original protest have had their charges dropped. Four 9th Judicial District judges in Crow Wing County recused themselves without giving any reason for recusal.

In August of 2017, 9th Judicial District Judge Jana M. Austad from Cass County took on the case. A year later (this Wednesday) there was a hearing, after which she will decide whether or not the defendant is protected under the 1855 treaty.

Traveling Rights?

A question about the remaining defendant James Warren Northrup's membership in either the Leech Lake or Fond du Lac tribe complicates the case. If he is a member of the Leech Lake tribe he could be liable for netting without a state license. If he is a member of the Fond du Lac Tribe he could be protected by the 1855 treaty's coverage of the Fond du Lac Reservation.

Jennifer Kraus reported on conversations after the hearing that shed light on such "portable" rights. Tribal defense attorney John Plumer stated that "all the territories of all the different treaty areas are all controlled by the Tribal Executive Committee and that we are one tribe." He added, "This committee determines whether or not people have rights to go outside the area they were historically enrolled in."

Does that mean the "Tribal Executive Committee" gets to decide how the exercise of any given treaty's provisions can be applied, regardless of which tribe was covered by the treaty, as long as they are part of the collective "Ojibwe tribe"?

That would allow the 1855 Treaty’s ceded territory—currently without any off-reservation hunting, fishing, gathering rights—to "inherit" rights from any other treaty.

A somewhat similar formula was created by the DNR to avoid regulations limiting wild rice harvest. Instead of being reservation specific, all Native Americans (DNR's language) could harvest wild rice on any reservation.

Honoring Treaties?

How does the Tribal Executive Committee come by the authority to supersede the plain language of the 1855 Treaty? Specifically, how does it supersede the agreement to "fully and entirely relinquish and convey to the United States, any and all right, title, and interest, of whatsoever nature the same may be, which they may now have in, and to any other lands in the Territory of Minnesota or elsewhere"?

In 1980 a U.S. District Court ruled in a Red Lake case that clear language like that in the 1855 Treaty extinguished all off-reservation hunting and fishing claims. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals later upheld this ruling.

PERM stands by all treaties with the tribes as they are written.

Harvest Rights Morph into 'Property Rights'

Notice in Jennifer Kraus' report how defense attorney Plumer added to the narrative that Treaty rights also mean "property rights." He stated, "All we are asking is to honor the treaties that we made with the United States that made this state possible. (We are) exercising our hunting, fishing, gathering of properties, as it is our property rights."

The biggest threat from acceding to any 1855 Treaty harvest claims in this case comes from the tribe's addition of "property rights" to claimed treaty harvest rights.

The property rights concept springs from attorney Peter Erlinder's analysis of treaties going back to 1795. He found them to be likely sources of "as yet unrecognized" and of "as yet undeveloped" property rights.

Recognizing property rights will have land-use management implications far beyond wildlife harvest. Arthur LaRose, chairman of the "1855 Treaty Authority," after the August 2015 protest, said that having these property rights would allow the tribe to "more forcefully assert management or regulatory rights on larger environmental issues such as the burying of oil pipelines or the relaxation of mining-related sulfate standards for wild rice." That's behind what Plumer was referring to when he said, "We want to guarantee that people have pristine drinking water."

Again, PERM stands by all treaties with the tribes as they are written.

Made Whole?

Defense attorney Plumer wrapped up his argument saying, "We're not the bad guys. We have poverty, historical, social and economic conditions that we are still paying for those treaties."

They are not the bad guys. Neither are non-tribal members. In 1946 Congress created a tribunal, the Indian Claims Commission (ICC), to hear and resolve all types of Indian claims, including treaty rights claims by Indians against the United States.

The ICCA is unusual in that Congress gave the Commission authority to also hear claims that were moral in nature. Therefore, tribes could bring cases claiming that the federal government had coerced them into signing treaties or misrepresented agreements, or acted in other ways that could be seen as violating fair and honorable dealings that were not recognized by any existing laws.

Also important was Congress' understanding that no one should be allowed to litigate a claim forever. In return for the elimination of any statute of limitations on claims filed under the Act, tribes understood that the ICCA would provide complete, final closure to their complaints.

In 1965 the ICC awarded the collective Ojibwe tribe, $3.93 million ($31,341,000 in 2018 dollars) for insufficient payment under the 1855 Treaty. As with all ICC cases, the Chippewa, by accepting payment, were forever barred from future claims under the 1855 Treaty.

Again in 1973 the ICC awarded the collective Ojibwe tribe, $9.02 million ($71,933,000) for claims under the 1837 treaty, including claims for lost hunting and fishing rights. What will the cost be if "co-management" comes to the 1855 ceded territory?

District Judge Jana Austad, who has taken the case under advisement, has up to 60 days to make a decision.

Doug Meyenburg
President PERM

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First MLFAC meeting under Brad Parsons

This will be the first Mille Lacs Fishery Advisory Committee meeting under Brad Parsons, DNR's new fisheries chief.

Remember, there is a 15-minute period at the end of the meeting reserved for public comments and questions.

PERM invites everyone concerned about the Mille Lacs situation to attend.

Douglas Meyenburg

The Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee will meet from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 27, at Appeldoorn's Sunset Bay Resort, 45401 Mille Lacs Parkway in Isle. The agenda will cover a mid-season update, a report on the Mille Lacs Band's ongoing acoustic telemetry study, and discussion around lake management planning. Members of the public are welcome to attend and observe these meetings, and 15 minutes during the middle of each meeting is reserved for public comments and questions.

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1855 Ceded Territory potential lawsuit - UPDATE

Crow Wing County Court Administration staff reported nothing new since the January 17, 2018 plea hearing (when the only remaining defendant, James Northrup, failed to even show up.) Joe Fellegy commented that "there are questions and uncertainties. James Northrup is a Fond du Lac Band member. Fond du Lac is outside the 1855 ceded territory. Then there's 'criminal' vs 'civil' offenses." Fellegy adds that we "don't know just how this will play out. And don't know what the various parties (locals, state, tribal attorneys) have in mind. )

After continued delays, a Court staffer said a trial date has been set for September 5, at 9 although "that could change."

See overview of potential l855 Treaty lawsuit here.

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Candidates for Governor invited to address questions on outdoor issues

Going to Game Fair on Saturday, August 18th? Be sure to attend the "Outdoor Issues Forum" starting at 1 pm. Topics "may" include those listed below.

It's a great chance to find out where candidates for Governor stand on outdoor issues. Hoping they will answer some meaningful questions about Mille Lacs, so whoever gets elected can be held accountable.

Doug Meyenburg
President, PERM

Governor Candidates to Discuss Outdoor Issues at August 18 Game Fair

www.moha-mn.org Outdoor News, Vol. 51, No. 30

The Minnesota Outdoor Heritage Alliance (MOHA) and the weekly publication Outdoor News are jointly sponsoring an Outdoor Issues Forum at the 2018 Game Fair. All 11 candidates for Minnesota Governor have been invited to participate. The Forum will begin at 1:00 pm on Saturday, August 18, 2018 at the Game Fair hosted by the Armstrong Ranch Kennel in Ramsey, Minnesota.

Distinguished Minnesota outdoorsmen Ron Schara and Rob Drieslein will moderate the Outdoor Issues Forum. They will ask the candidates to address questions relating to a range of topics of interest to all Minnesotans and of particular concern to hunters, anglers, and outdoor recreationists of all persuasions. Topics may include:

Aquatic Invasive Species -- an increasing number of lakes are affected as invasives are transferred by boats, trailers and docks

Chronic Wasting Disease -- this fatal disease is seen in both wild and farmed deer and monitored by the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture's Board of Animal Health

Clean Water -- we are one-third of the way into the life of the Clean Water Fund; Are we making good progress?

Legacy Amendment & Outdoor Heritage Fund -- Minnesotans adopted a Constitutional amendment and tax increase dedicated to protecting and enhancing natural resources, but some of the fund is being used for bonding rather than projects recommended by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council

Mille Lacs Lake Fishery -- constant controversy stems from ever-changing regulations

Public Lands -- Minnesota has about 12 million acres of public lands; about half are managed by our DNR for a myriad of recreational activities and support of local economies

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Misleading
Response to 'Co-management for peace and friendship'

Mille Lacs Messenger Mailbag
Letter of the Week August 1, 2018

Messenger Editor Vivian LaMoore's long July 25 editorial -- "Co-management for peace and friendship" -- is misleading and dodges historical facts. Her summary of nine years of legal happenings after Mille Lacs Band government sued Minnesota in 1990 blasts Bud Grant, Howard Hanson (who recently passed away) and PERM for helping defeat a 1993 out-of-court settlement effort.

That secretly-negotiated settlement was a deal struck by DNR Commissioner Rod Sando and Mille Lacs Band government. It had to be approved by the Minnesota Legislature, signed by the governor and later approved by a federal court. Editor LaMoore failed to list the many DFL and Republican legislators who wisely defeated that 49-page settlement bill. She never mentioned the many conservation groups and prominent Minnesotans who rightfully opposed it.

Know that seven other Chippewa bands were signers of the 1837 Treaty, and they threatened to seek similar settlements. So multiply the terms of that proposed agreement by eight! In the waning hours of the hearings, when it became obvious it would fail, many counter-proposals floated around.

That failed settlement included many costly provisions, like recognition of a long-disestablished 61,000-acre Mille Lacs Indian reservation, whose boundaries would include Isle, Wahkon, most of Onamia and a big portion of Mille Lacs County and the big lake. If passed, the settlement bill's impacts on state and local governments, businesses, landowners and citizens would have been huge. The settlement bill included a $10 million payment to Mille Lacs Band government; a 6,000-acre tribal exclusive zone on Mille Lacs, 7,500 or more acres of state land to Mille Lacs tribal government; and many legal components that could have harmed state interests down the road.

PERM (Proper Economic Resource Management) was formed by hundreds of like-minded sportsmen and sportswomen after the landowners became official parties to the case. Our purpose was to finance landowners legal fees and to educate the general public. We succeeded in eliminating tribal-harvest trespassing on private property.

While the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1999 that tribal harvest rights exist, they did not dictate the spawning-time gillnetting or the co-management mess -- only that state officials and tribes must come to an agreement. And never forget that the Supreme Court's majority opinion stated, "We do not mean to suggest that a President, now or in the future, cannot revoke Chippewa usufructuary rights in accordance with the terms of the 1837 Treaty." In other words, they were meant to be temporary.

Years to remember: In 1850, President Zachary Taylor revoked those temporary privileges; 1924, American Indians became U.S. Citizens; 1946 Congress created the Indian Claims Commission (ICC) to resolve all Indian Claims; 1965 and 1973, Minnesota Chippewa, including Mille Lacs, accepted millions to settle claims. Weren't off-reservation treaty harvest claims included?

PERM has, does, and will honor Indian treaties as written -- their plain meaning and clear intent, not off-base interpretations that harm state and citizen interests, as at Mille Lacs. We believe all citizens, tribal and non-Indian, should fish, hunt, and gather under one set of laws. That's equal rights.

Douglas J. Meyenburg, PERM President

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PERM founder Hanson dies at 84

Howard Hanson with Bud Grant
Howard Hanson (l) and former Minnesota Vikings coach Bud Grant
often collaborated in the fight for state anglers' rights
regarding Mille Lacs

By Javier Serna, Assistant Editor Outdoor News July 13, 2018

Hopkins, Minn. — Howard Hanson, 84, who fought for state fishing rights on Lake Mille Lacs, died June 25.

Hanson, of Hopkins, was a founding member of Proper Economic Resources Management, which came together in 1994, according to PERM president Douglas Meyenburg.

"He was a charter board member and was on the board up until the day he died," Meyenburg said.

Hanson and others fought a deal between the state of Minnesota and Indian bands that would have established an exclusive fishing zone for the bands, Meyenburg said. When that deal fell apart, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe sued the state in a case that ultimately was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1999.

"He tried to educate people on what would happen if there ended up being hunting and fishing outside of state regulations," Meyenburg said.

Meyenburg said Hanson "spearheaded a movement that brought many people to testify at House and Senate hearings, boat parades, informational meetings, and events to bring awareness to the issues."

Linda Eno, co-owner of Twin Pines Resort in Garrison, recalled Hanson's contributions to the Mille Lacs issue.

"I would say he was a tireless, tireless advocate for equal rights and what was going on with this lake," said Eno, who recalled lobbying in Washington, D.C., with Hanson.

Hanson, she said, sponsored her bid for governor of Minnesota in 2010.

"He sunk so much time, energy, and money into this cause," Eno added. "It was very personal and near and dear to his heart. Everyone will feel the loss. It will take multiple people to pick up the loss of his time, energy, and finances. From the beginning, he was in the fight, to the Supreme Court, fighting for landowners' rights. From Day 1, he was in it."

Meyenburg said PERM will continue to fight for state anglers regarding Lake Mille Lacs, which has seen three consecutive catchand-release-only open-water walleye-fishing seasons that have hurt businesses around the lake. He said Hanson never lost hope. "For all of the time and dedication he put into this, I am really sorry that he didn't live long enough to see it settled," he said. "He never lost the gumption or the drive to continue. He was 84 and he was still heading around the state and talking to groups and people. He was an important part of our board. We are going to miss him and his input and his friendship and everything that goes with knowing somebody 25 years or so."

Meyenburg said Hanson had a deep knowledge of the issues and was a great resource for the organization.

"He is the reason that the organization was formed and that there are still people out there willing to fight for what is right," Meyenburg said. "He traveled the whole state, talking to anybody who was willing to listen. He got the ball rolling."

A visitation will be held at Gethsemane Lutheran Church, 715 Minnetonka Mills Rd., in Hopkins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 21, with a memorial service at 11 a.m., according to PERM.

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Congratulations!
PERM Spring Legal Fund Raffle Winners

Edward S..........Fifty Lakes..........Browning X Bolt 30-06
Jim E...............Bloomington........Ruger American 270 Win Bolt
Tim K..............Isle....................Winchester SXP 12 ga Shotgun
James E...........St Paul...............Ruger American 243 cal
Stephen R........Eden Prairie.........Ruger American .17 HMR
Dean P............Blaine.................Twin Pines Eat Sleep Fish Package
Pillip L............Mooresville, NC.....Paul Hartman Muskie Guide Service
Jason B...........Foley...................Redfield Laser Rangefinder
Tom B............Merrifield.............$100 Capra’s Gift Certificate
Phil U.............Oak Forest, IL.......$100 Capra’s Gift Certificate

Congratulations to all winners. And a huge Thank You! to all who entered the PERM Spring Raffle. You are helping to ensure equal protection of the law for ALL citizens’ sustainable access to Minnesota’s natural resources.

Doug,
Douglas Meyenburg,
President PERM

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Howard Hanson, long-time advocate for landowner, equal hunting and fishing rights, passed away June 25th

Howard Hanson with Bud Grant
Howard Hanson with Bud Grant
at Capitol Rally, St Paul, 1993

It is with much regret that I share the sad news of Howard Hanson passing away.

About 30 years ago at the Sportsman Show, I wasapproached by this enthusiastic gentleman handing out information regarding equal hunting and fishing rights. Howard spearheaded a movement that brought many people to testify at House and Senate hearings, boat parades, informational meetings, and events to bring awareness to the issues.

He was a founding member of PERM and a Board member since day one. Even with his failing health, Howard has made himself available right up to the end. I will miss his knowledge, input, and friendship.

PERM has lost a great pioneer member of our family. Please keep his wife Carol and family in your prayers as they go through this difficult time.

Howard Hanson's obituary will be published in the Star Tribune on Sunday, July 15. Visitation will be held at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Hopkins at 10 am, Saturday, July 21st followed by a memorial service at 11 am. The church is located at 715 Minnetonka Mills Rd, Hopkins, MN 55343. Doug Douglas Meyenburg President, PERM

Doug
Douglas Meyenburg,
President PERM

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Letter on Don Pereira's Legacy

Erik Jacobson does a great job in a few words explaining DNR Fisheries chief Don Pereira's legacy, which he says goes hand in hand with Governor Dayton's.

As Jacobson points out, Pereira oversaw Mille Lacs' walleye limits reduced each year until the first closure to walleye fishing in history. Every year after was catch-and-release only with an ever-present threat of closure.

Governor (then candidate) Dayton should have stood by his claim at Game Fair saying that "all hunting and fishing in Minnesota should be done under the same rules." Instead we got a politically-driven ultra-conservative roller coaster of slot and limits. Under Pereira's watch the DNR relied on flawed data, discounting anglers' actual experiences and the Mille Lacs Fishery Advisory Committee's suggestions and input.

Doug
Douglas Meyenburg,
President PERM

Pereira’s Legacy Outdoor News Letters to the Editor June 22. 2018 V51 #25

Don Pereira recently announced his retirement. He’s been the DNR Fisheries chief since November 2013. Gleaned from the story in the June 8 edition of Outdoor News, even if the people he worked with didn’t always agree with some of his decisions, they liked and respected him.

It also sounded like, overall, he did some good things for Minnesota, so I wish him well in his retirement.

But I guess no matter what he did for Minnesota fishing overall, in my opinion, Lake Mille Lacs will be his legacy. When he took the job, the limit was three walleyes on Mille Lacs, then two in 2014, then one in 2015, and then it closed for the first time in history that August.

Now we’re in the third year in a row of catch and release and hoping there is no season closure for the first time in four years. That’s unacceptable, as far as I’m concerned.

When Gov. Mark Dayton took office in 2012, the limit was four Mille Lacs walleyes. So, he’s just as much to blame – if not more. Both of their legacies could have been establishing reasonable consistent regulations on Mille Lacs, instead of the roller coaster slots/limits and current ultra-conservatism.

They could have been heroes to Minnesota fishermen and the local economy. Instead, their legacies will be forever marred for claiming Mille Lacs has a “declining walleye population” when it’s painfully obvious to anglers who fish the lake that that is simply not true – including all the non-bias out-of-state professional bass anglers who caught almost as many walleyes as they did bass.

It’s absolutely ridiculous that it’s still catch-and-release fishing for walleyes. In my opinion, Mille Lacs will always be the walleye capital of Minnesota. It’s too bad the DNR won’t admit its data are flawed and the media continues to drink their Kool-Aid.

Erik Jacobson Garrison

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Senseless loss of walleye foreshadows fate of Mille Lacs fishery

On Sunday, May 20th, based on a tip from a local resident, an abandoned tribal gillnet with close to 100 dead and rotting walleyes (see photo) was removed from Mille Lacs by a Tribal/GLIFWC game warden with assistance from MN DNR Conservation Officer. The abandoned gillnet had been un-attended from at least Thursday, May 17.

The majority of the Walleyes, based on observed length, appear to be from the coveted 2013-year class and given an average weight of 2 - 3 pounds per walleye, a waste of 200-300 pounds. Updated: The field report was amended after a manual count by GLIFWC, which reported 67 walleye.

ML walleye WASTED!

Wanton waste of natural resources is especially galling to Minnesotans, who support a conservation record that's second to none. Why is this happening?

It's because Mille Lacs Co-Management does not work! DNR's co-management has a very "light touch" when it comes to tribal interests. Which opens the door to treaty harvest rights exploitation (gillnetting during the spawn, wanton waste, science made-to-order, politically-driven lop-sided allocations.)

What makes this waste especially offensive is how it highlights the failure of "co-management." That failure is leaving non-tribal anglers, resorters and related businesses in the Mille Lacs fishery feeling as trapped as those wasted walleye.

(Remember, this is the year to ask candidates for elected office exactly what will they do to end the co-management mess at Mille Lacs.)

Douglas Meyenburg
President, PERM

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Tribal protest on Lake Bemidji buries the facts

Recent articles in the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press (below) reported on Chippewa tribal members' protest involving a one-day "fish-off" the day before fishing opener. This will be the third such public violation of Minnesota's conservation laws to make a point.

The tribe is claiming that off-reservation hunting, fishing, gathering rights exist in the 1855 ceded territory area. They deny the plain language of the 1855 Treaty and the long-standing position and regular assertions of the DNR that no such rights exist.

A new tactic this time is to conflate treaty rights claims with opposition to the proposed Enbridge pipeline. Actually, exercise of non-existent rights to hunt, fish, gather in ceded territory over which they have no jurisdiction is not affected by the pipeline. But drawing on the sympathy many people have for claims of environmental threats by the pipeline is a tactic to garner (somewhat confused) support. It's also great for building the narrative about the existence of 1855 "treaty harvest rights."

What Rights?

The most buried fact is the 1855 Treaty itself. It states that the Indians "do further fully and entirely relinquish and convey to the United States, any and all right, title, and interest, of whatsoever nature the same may be..."

If "fully and entirely" could possibly leave anything to the imagination, the all-inclusive, totally un-ambiguous "of whatsoever nature" covers it.

The 1855 Treaty further clarifies "fully and entirely relinquish" to include "which they may now have in, and to any other lands in the Territory of Minnesota or elsewhere." That would include the 1837 Treaty ceded territory. That would also preclude the "inheritance" of any harvest rights affirmed by the Supreme Court's 1837 Treaty case ruling.

Potential Court Case?

The 2010 walleye netting violation was aborted after the Crow Wing County attorney refused to prosecute the DNR-cited tribal members. Prospects for another 1837 Treaty style Supreme Court ruling disappeared.

The 2015 walleye netting violation also has gone nowhere. After an extensive delay, numerous reschedulings, and the recusals of three judges, the case before Crow Wing County Court has entered a state of limbo. Charges against three of the four defendants have been dismissed. At the last hearing, the sole remaining defendant never even showed up.

The recent "fish-off" violation in part builds on the failure of Minnesota's legal system to enforce the law. The DNR's spokesman was reported to have said "Persons who violate state law will be subject to enforcement action that may include warnings, citations, seizure of fishing equipment, nets, and spears."

No adjudication? No problem. Lots of nets and spears on hand.

Rights by Default?

If the legal system abdicates its responsibility to enforce the law, then the tribe has free rein to build the narrative that off-reservation treaty harvest rights do exist. If not actually creating a de facto legal existence of such rights.

Working a case all the way up to the Supreme Court, as was done with the 1837 Treaty, may be a long shot. It may soon be unnecessary. A well-establish narrative will be all that's needed to cow the Governor, Legislature, and Attorney General to cave on respecting the actual terms of the 1855 Treaty.

"Property Rights" Poison Pill

The biggest threat from acceding to any 1855 Treaty harvest claims comes from the tribe's addition of "usufructuary property rights" to claimed treaty harvest rights. This is treaty rights expansion on steroids.

The property rights concept springs from attorney Peter Erlinder's analysis of treaties going back to 1795. His analysis of treaties found them to be likely sources of "as yet unrecognized" and of "as yet undeveloped" property rights "for the 21st Century."

If anyone thinks the "co-management" of 1837 Treaty harvest rights is an impenetrable disaster, imagine adding "property rights" to the mix. Over the entire 1855 ceded territory. Protection of these rights will have land-use management implications far beyond wildlife harvest.

Arthur LaRose, chairman of the "1855 Treaty Authority," has said that having these property rights would allow the tribe to "more forcefully assert management or regulatory rights on larger environmental issues such as the burying of oil pipelines or the relaxation of mining-related sulfate standards for wild rice." Or even where you can put an outhouse.

Keep in mind, the 1855 Treaty ceded territory includes a small portion of Mille Lacs. That makes all of Mille Lacs' contiguous water subject to any newly recognized or newly developed property rights. See Map showing the extent of the 1855 Treaty ceded territory and its intersection with Mille Lacs.

Tribal protest planned before Minnesota's fishing opener

By Mary Lynn Smith, Star Tribune, May 10, 2018

In an effort to exercise what they say are their treaty rights, Chippewa tribal members plan to fish on Lake Bemidji one day before the Minnesota fishing opener.

The one-day "fish-off" protest was sparked by the tribe's opposition to a new Enbridge pipeline across northern Minnesota, to be built either in a new corridor across ceded land where tribal members exercise their rights to hunt, fish and gather food, or in the existing corridor that crosses two reservations.

The idea behind the rally is to send a message to Minnesota officials that they don't have the right to "sell out our terrain, our environment, our ecosystem, our clean water, our fresh fish," said Frank Bibeau, executive director of the 1855 Treaty Authority, which represents about 25,000 Chippewa tribal members who are current beneficiaries of the 1855 Chippewa treaty with the United States.

The tribes retained the rights to hunt, fish and gather when they made the treaties, and they need a territory that sustains those things, Bibeau said. A pipeline could contaminate or jeopardize natural resources in the future, he said.

In the meantime, the "fish off" will allow tribal members to exercise their treaty rights, he added. Friday's protest is similar to one on Lake Bemidji the day before the 2010 fishing opener, when tribal members wanted to assert their belief that the 1855 treaty doesn't restrict their off-reservation rights to fish, hunt and gather. Two Leech Lake Band members placed fishing nets in the lake and, two hours later, conservation officers from the Department of Natural Resources confiscated the nets and about a dozen suckers, walleyes and northerns.

"As the agency has said in the past, the DNR position is that off-reservation harvest rights do not exist in the 1855 treaty area and that state laws will be upheld," DNR spokesman Chris Niskanen wrote in a statement Thursday. "Persons who violate state law will be subject to enforcement action that may include warnings, citations, seizure of fishing equipment, nets, and spears."

Tribal members cited for illegal fishing in contested treaty-area lake

By Grace Pastoor May 12, 2018, twincities.com (Pioneer Press)

Two men who placed a net in Lake Bemidji were waiting, along with about 30 White Earth and Leech Lake band members, were waiting for conservation officer Demo Regas to cite them. Joseph Rousu and Leonard Thompson were cited for fishing a day before the state’s opener.

Rousu, Thompson and a small group casting off of a nearby dock defied fishing regulations in an attempt to push authorities toward recognizing fishing rights they believe were guaranteed by an 1855 treaty.

"It's just acknowledgment of the treaty rights that were established through treaty agreements many years ago," said Leech Lake Tribal Chairman Farron Jackson. "Just to have them properly recognized and acknowledged is important to the members residing in the 1855 treaty area."

The 1855 treaty ceded a swath of land in northern and central Minnesota, and the 1855 Treaty Authority is composed of the beneficiaries of that treaty, including several Bemidji-area Ojibwe bands. Treaties similar to the 1855 treaty specifically allow tribes to hunt, fish and harvest on ceded land, but the 1855 one doesn’t say one way or the other.

The Friday demonstration echoed a similar event eight years ago. Although the DNR confiscated nets and other fishing gear at that event, activists said there were no charges.

In 2015, the group attempted to make a similar statement at Hole-in-the-Day Lake north of Brainerd by harvesting wild rice without state-required harvest permits. That event led to citations, though lawmakers later passed a bill allowing tribal members to gather wild rice without permits.

This year's event aimed to draw attention to the bands' opposition to Enbridge Energy Co.'s Line 3 replacement project, as well as the treaty rights activists feel are being violated. The Canadian company hopes to replace an aging oil pipeline that crosses northern Minnesota on its journey from Canada to Wisconsin.

DNR spokesman Chris Niskanen said Thursday that the department does not believe off-reservation harvest rights exist in the 1855 treaty area. Those cited plan to bring the issue to the courts. "We have no choice but to continue to come out to protect our environment and our resources for our future generations," Bibeau said. "These are what these actions are really about."

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PERM at May 7 MLFAC Meeting

PERM’s May Board meeting has been RESCHEDULED for May 14th to allow PERM members to attend the May 7 MLFAC Meeting.

The Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee will meet from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday, May 7, at Izatys Resort, 40005 85th Ave. in Onamia. The agenda includes discussion of the recently announced open water regulations and upcoming studies planned for Mille Lacs.

Members of the public are welcome to attend and observe these meetings, and 15 minutes at the end of each meeting is reserved for public comments and questions. PERM encourages everyone to attend.

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Remembering James R. Moeller

PERM wishes to recognize the passing, as well as celebrate the life and work of Jim Moeller, past PERM board member, longtime member/foot soldier. A true member's member!

Also ... he was quite the guy!

Moeller, James R. Age 93, of Brooklyn Center, formerly of Kenwood, passed away on March 2, 2018 after a long illness. As a member of the "Greatest Generation," he entered the US Army Air Corp and served in the Pacific during WWII. Following his service he married Patricia Drake; together they had 2 children and were married for 69 years. Jim owned and operated Twin Cities Drapery. In retirement, he drove a school bus until the age of 88. Jim was a longstanding member of the Masonic Lodge. His passions were hunting, fishing, and spending time with friends and family at his cabin on Mille Lacs Lake. Preceded in death by son, David; parents, Otto and Alma; brother, Dale. Survived by wife, Patricia; daughter, Barbara (Mark) Seymour; grandchildren, Brian, and Bradley (Amy) Christensen, Kimberly (Mitch) Johnson; James, Andrew (Heidi), and Michael (Trang) Moeller; 8 great-grandchildren.

A private celebration of his life is being held at a later date.

Share memories or condolences here.

Memorials preferred to Honor Flight Twin Cities (online or 2674 Mackubin St., Roseville, MN 55113).

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Support for Mille Lacs "co-management" accountability and transparency

Here is a "Voice for Mille Lacs." Rep. Sondra Erickson has been challenging the DNR regarding "co-management" of Mille Lacs for years. She's not asking for a lot. Just transparency and treating Minnesotans the same as tribes. Remember, the Bureau of Indian Affairs was created to ensure equal and fair treatment for American Indians, not to promote special rights and privileges.

A voice for Mille Lacs
By Rep. Sondra Erickson Monday, April 9, 2018

It is an honor and a privilege to be a voice for the Mille Lacs Lake area as a member of the House of Representatives in the Minnesota Legislature.

To that point, I face two big challenges in the 2018 session: helping the county and the lake area to grow its tax base, and making the Department of Natural Resources accountable and transparent for their actions regarding co-management of Mille Lacs Lake in the 1837 Ceded Territory.

Over the past years I have worked especially hard with a sense of purpose to help the area grapple with decisions by the DNR whom I challenge repeatedly on decisions made by the Fisheries Technical Committee--DNR, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) along with the eight Ojibwe Bands.

For example, the DNR knows that I want an extensive analysis of gill-netting during walleye spawn and a study of shared hooking mortality.

In respect to the failing economy in the area, the four townships surrounding the lake used to provide nearly 30 percent of the tax base of the county. Sadly, property values of this area have decreased significantly, partly because of the lack of fishing activity, again a result of the DNR’s PR about the lake and their closure of the lake to walleye fishing.

So, what is planned for this session? I have pre-filed a proposal that supports accountability and transparency:

*** Requesting the DNR commissioner to invite two members of the Mille Lacs Fishery Advisory Committee (MLFAC) to attend and observe the fisheries technical meetings (those who livelihood depends on the lake need to observe, not legislators);

*** And requiring that all past and present minutes from all fisheries technical meetings/ correspondence become public documents and get filed in the Legislative Reference Library (the DNR does not archive any documents, a practice again that lacks accountability and transparency).

*** In addition is a hold-over from last session: property tax abatement for affected area lake businesses, so I expect that proposal to be considered.

A welcomed surprise is that the Office of the Legislative Auditor will perform a financial audit of all special revenues collected by the DNR, an audit I have requested for several years and that may shed light on the cost/benefit of co-management.

Finally, I have or will introduce bills to create a Mille Lacs Lake task force to study co-management and a legislative study working group to tackle a long list of problems. And, yet to come is a proposal for some kind of economic boost for the area.

Lest I forget education, I follow the progress and achievement of all students and recently sent congratulatory notes to 70 Isle High School students for earning honor roll. As chair of the House E-12 Education Innovation Policy, I work with my committee to ensure that all students have opportunities to meet their individual needs and that they have the best qualified teachers possible.

I am a disciplined legislator who wants to do what is best and what is important, so I look forward to working with you. Please continue to provide me with your thoughts and ideas.

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Bill to change 1837 treaty protocol raises sovereignty question

In the article below, Rep Jamie Becker-Finn uses the term sovereign nation and nation to nation when referring to the Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa! In fact, if the Tribe were a Sovereign Nation the politicians would not be able to accept political donations from them. Local, county, or state money could not be used on their lands. No different than the sovereign nations like Russia, China, or Mexico.

Douglas Meyenburg,
President PERM

Bill to change language of 1837 treaty protocol met with opposition

By Vivian LaMoore vlamoore@millelacsmessenger.com Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Holding true to her promise, Rep. Sondra Erickson authored a bill to allow for two members of the Mille Lacs Lake Fisheries Advisory Committee to attend the meetings of the Fishery Technical Committee. The bill received some push back and raised questions of government transparency and whether or not such a bill could even be enforceable.

The bill was first introduced by Erickson (R) to the House in February and has since been amended. The amended version was heard in the Environment and Natural Resource Policy and Finance Committee on Thursday, March 29. The original House File 2732 section 1 states, "the commissioner of natural resources must invited at least two members of the Mille Lacs Lake Fisheries Advisory Committee to attend all meetings of the 1837 Ceded Territory Fisheries Technical Committee."

The amended version of the bill changed the word "must" to "may." Erickson argued the amended proposed bill is "permissive" and is at the will of the DNR commissioner "if he chooses."

What is the FTC

The 1837 Ceded Territory Fisheries Committee is part of the United States Supreme Court's protocols spelled out in Minnesota v. Mille Lacs case. Per the protocol, people qualified to participate in meetings include fisheries scientists and fisheries managers from the state, the Bands and Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC). A number of years ago, the FTC mutually agreed to permit the chairs of House and Senate Environment/Natural Resources Committees to observe (listen in) but not participate. Members of MLFAC have repeatedly expressed concern the FTC meetings are held in secrecy and have said they do not believe the DNR is completely honest with them as to what happens during the meetings. The DNR has continued to say those feelings are unjustified, stating the DNR is, in fact, being transparent.

DNR Fisheries chief Don Pereira has told MLFAC on numerous occasions the DNR has previously asked the FTC to allow designated members of MLFAC to observe the FTC meetings, and those requests have not met with approval. Pereira said members of the FTC feel the meetings are technical and members of the legislature are already allowed to observe. Those legislators should be relaying the information back to their constituents, he said.

House file 2732

The amended bill was heard in the Environment and Natural Resource policy and finance committee on March 29. Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn (DFL) asked Erickson if she had consulted with the tribes directly regarding MLFAC representation at the FTC meetings. Erickson replied she had not spoken directly with the Bands.

"I am just not sure what we are doing here when one of the parties represented has not been consulted," Becker-Finn said. She continued with confusion, wondering, "why [do] we need to legislate something we may not even be able to enforce against a sovereign nation."

"We represent the state of Minnesota," Erickson said. "We don't represent the eight Bands under the agreement. This is permissible language for the commissioner if he chooses."

Becker-Finn argued, "You can't make the tribes add additional requirements to their nation-to-nation agreement regarding the setup of the technical committee. We do not have jurisdiction to order the tribes to do anything."

Rep. Dale Lueck (R) said the protocol of the FTC has been discussed since the Supreme Court ruling in 1999 and feels the idea "we are not consulting with them is ridiculous."

Lueck went on to say it is a "gut-wrenching feeling" that people don't understand what happens at the FTC meetings. Opening [the meetings] will "end some of the bitterness and divisiveness that has been going on 20 years."

Rep. Mark Uglem (R) agreed with Lueck, stating "transparency in government is good."

Rep. Peter Fisher (DFL) said he feels the bill is sending "some messages that may not be intended." He continued stating the bill minimizes the sovereign governments of the tribes by mandating a new protocol. "I am not seeing a reach-out to the tribes," Fisher said. "It feels disrespectful to the tribes."

Becker-Finn added the U.S. Supreme Court outlined some of the "games that were played by the federal government" in the court opinion. "I bring that up because I think it speaks to the long standing distrust from a lot of Native folks when it comes to things forced upon them. If we are really serious about coming to a place where we can move past some of the hard feelings, pushing legislation without conversations - us dictating something, forcing one side to do something – is not how we move past a place."

Erickson replied, "The Bands don't come to us and ask us, so these are two different entities. I am speaking on behalf of the state of Minnesota. This is just the way it is. I am working with the DNR and not with GLIFWC and not with the Bands." The bill was laid over, meaning postponed, with no further discussion at that time.

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Outside experts and flawed policies

While attending Mille Lacs Fishery Advisory Committee meetings, I could feel the frustration of local resorters, guides, and residents. Their advisory input was always falling on deaf ears.

They can give their own launch statistics on large numbers of walleye caught and released in every year class. They can tell about guides' experience trying to catch bass on shallow rock piles under the sun, only to move because their clients catch nothing but walleyes. Yet the DNR at the meetings continues to say "But our test nets prove the population is low and the walleye are stunted".

Joe Fellegy was also at the last MLFAC meeting. His report in Outdoor News, "Mille Lacs: outside experts, flawed policies," really tells it like it is. (See below or link here.)

(Joe Fellegy not only writes about Mille Lacs and the issues, he lives it, having spent his whole life on or near the lake. He writes the truth with no candy coating.)

In his report, Fellegy unravels DNR's usual song and dance using "outside experts" to affirm their business as usual. This time was supposed to be different. Outside expert Dr. Chris Vandergoot "would evaluate current management objectives and alternative management approaches,..." MLFAC members expected Vandergoot's panel would even look at "the unnecessarily low walleye quotas that trigger radical management actions, like all-release and in-season angling shutdowns.."

When it came time to deliver, at a MLFAC meeting more than six months later, Committee members got nothing. After complimenting DNR data collection practices, Vandergoot said "he could address no questions about policy." He said his panel of experts decided to avoid policy matters, and not tell state managers "how to run their fisheries."

There was no challenge to using imprecise kreel survey and hooking mortality data to come up with to-the-pound quotas, and fishery shutdowns. Normal fisheries science took a back seat to "state-tribal co-management's political quota system..." And unlike most scientific peer reviews, "there will be no written report or summary."

See all of Joe's analysis below or link here.

I am awaiting the next MLFAC meeting to see what new six-month rubber-stamp study the DNR will propose. I also imagine the DNR is spending ALL their time celebrating their share of the 3M lawsuit settlement of $850 million. Just think of all the studies!

Our DNR is supposed to be looking out for ALL Minnesotans! Let's elect new people who will drain the swamp!

Doug
Douglas Meyenburg,
President, PERM

Mille Lacs: outside experts, flawed policies
Outdoor News, Vol. 51, No. 08 -- Page 12
By Joe Fellegy February 23, 2018

Mille Lacs is setting records. No, not those released "state-record muskies." Rather, we're seeing the biggest ongoing PR disaster in the histories of Minnesota fishing, fisheries management, fishing-related economics, and our sportfishing culture. While citizen-stakeholders get labeled "anti-science" if they question the extremist workings of state-tribal co-management--yes, we do hear some dumb stuff from angler-biologists--it's management itself that defies fisheries science and triggers distrust toward the DNR's Section of Fisheries.

Traditionally, through decades of fisheries-science literature, and at gatherings of fisheries professionals around the world, Minnesota's Lake Mille Lacs has rightfully been portrayed as the ultimate classic natural walleye lake.

Now, thanks to co-management's political (not science-based) ultra-low quotas, little or no walleye-keeping for anglers, in-season shutdowns, live-bait bans, hooking-mortality penalties, quota-overage punishments, etc., millions of folks mistakenly believe Mille Lacs is suffering severe walleye woes--that the fish are crashing, collapsing, disappearing, dropping, dwindling, and in demise.

This untruthful vocabulary victimizes the Mille Lacs sportfishing community.

Outside experts?

Last June 9, the DNR announced "an external review of Mille Lacs Lake walleye management and harvest strategy."

Don Pereira, DNR Fisheries chief, said the review would evaluate current management objectives and alternative management approaches, analyze possible changes in management strategy, and evaluate current assessment methods like fall gill-net surveys, population estimates, and creel surveys. Dr. Chris Vandergoot, of the U.S. Geological Survey and with Lake Erie connections, would lead the panel.

Early media reports emphasized Vandergoot's experience with "multi-jurisdictional fisheries." In a June 6 Star Tribune article, DNR regional fisheries manager Brad Parsons said the Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee could ask the experts anything about the DNR's "Mille Lacs policy or management."

Naturally, Mille Lacs watchers expected a review of the DNR's co-management with eight Chippewa bands, six of them from Wisconsin. How would Vandergoot's panel rate the unnecessarily low walleye quotas that trigger radical management actions, like all-release and in-season angling shutdowns?

Imagine the shock and dismay at the Feb. 5 MLFAC meeting when Dr. Vandergoot said he could address no questions about policy. He later told me his panel decided to avoid policy matters, and that they lack authority to tell state managers "how to run their fisheries."

And even after attending the Feb. 6 state-tribal Fisheries Technical Committee meeting, seeing in person the haggling that decides Mille Lacs quotas and regs, he had no "personal opinions" to share. Hmm.

A Feb. 6 Star Tribune piece wrongly stated that "walleye management techniques on Mille Lacs have been affirmed" by the four outside experts. Hey, they never touched the flawed policy and management practices. So toss those misleading articles saying the external reviewers found no problems in Mille Lacs management. And unlike most scientific peer reviews, there will be no written report or summary. The outside experts opined on the DNR's Mille Lacs fisheries-assessment work, but avoided the real biggy: how assessment data is used and misused.

Mille Lacs assessments

Like the DNR's Fisheries chief Pereira, Dr. Vandergoot, the outside experts' leader, is well schooled and deep into fisheries science. He gave overall high marks to the department's fall fish-population gill-net surveys, angler creel surveys, electrofishing, tagging, and hooking-mortality estimates. I agree. The DNR has a long tradition of stellar Mille Lacs assessments and data collection.

In the early 1980s, some of us citizen-activists pushed for annual Mille Lacs fisheries assessments. That ultimately led to the DNR's Large Lake Sampling Program, which includes annual surveys on Minnesota's 11 largest lakes.

Sure, given clearer water and other possible influences on walleye numbers in the DNR's 32 in-shore nets (typically shallower than 15 feet), Fisheries crews could place a few new nets in 20 to 25 feet, short distances beyond some in-shore nets, to observe whatever differences and to satisfy local curiosities.

Normally, the annual fish-population assessments show managers year-class strength, age and size trends, and overall population trends. Any 10-year period normally brings wide fluctuations in year-class strengths, forage abundance, and much more, depending on Mother Nature's whims. In any assessment-netting season, even with the same fish population, the net catches might vary significantly, depending on weather and water conditions. Outside the horrible Mille Lacs co-management system, that's a given and no big deal.

Even with new quandaries and questions about invasive species, water clarity, the food chain, and whatever, fisheries managers would typically sit back and see where things level off after a decade. But under the state-tribal co-management's political quota system, normal fisheries science and trend-watching get scrapped in favor of radical reactions.

Mille Lacs creel surveys began in 1958. They provide info about fish species, numbers, and sizes anglers catch, keep, and release. Like other assessment tools, the random creel surveys cannot yield precise to-the-pound management data. But under the corrosive state-tribal co-management system, they can shut down sport angling on a healthy-enough fishery.

Hooking-mortality scam

At MLFAC meetings, outside experts Dr. James Bence and Dr. Vandergoot were asked if they could name another walleye-fishing community in the United States that must worry about in-season shutdowns based on hooking-mortality guesstimates. Both said no! Yet, Mille Lacs resorters, guides, business folks, and the angling public face such nonsense in the name of "conservative" management.

Sure, some released fish die.

But big majorities live, and that's the focus everywhere else.

Media mess

The nutcake management happenings and DNR messaging about Minnesota's largest sport fishery push an endless news flow--from the Mille Lacs Messenger and Brainerd Dispatch to Outdoor News, the Star Tribune, and newspapers across Minnesota and beyond; from Minnesota Public Radio's 40-plus stations to numerous TV channels and many hours of outdoor talk radio.

Add angling websites, social media, and opinion aplenty. Translate that huge negative Mille Lacs media punch into advertising dollars, and the cost would be many millions a year.

Accountability?

Is there a principle in politics, journalism, or fisheries science that exempts tribal governments and tribal resource-management agencies from media scrutiny and accountability to the tax-paying and license-buying public? Regarding Mille Lacs, think eight tribal DNRs and their Wisconsin-based umbrella group, the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission--key players in policy and management. Who are they accountable to?

Millions in taxpayer funding?

Where does state management authority begin and end? Are policy critics within the DNR and Minnesota's executive branch forbidden from publicly questioning the standard gospels and workings of Mille Lacs co-management?

Talk about unethical public policy, where the negative impacts far outweigh any positives. How long will Minnesota government's executive branch fail to protect state and citizen interests?

Well, continuing bad policy, plus angler-biologists and others parading their homespun ideas about "doing something" (smart, stupid, or in between). What a clutter on many fronts!

Interestingly, last fall's in-shore and off-shore gill-net assessments showed a Mille Lacs walleye population within pretty normal bounds.

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County claims reservation causes harm due to uncertainty

NOTE: PERM wishes to reprint the article from the Mille Lacs Messenger (see below) to help clarify the controversy around Mille Lacs County Board's decision to not renew law enforcement agreement with Mille Lacs Band. Recognizing the 61,000-acre reservation could allow for an extra layer of regulations on natural resources as well as with the other issues in the County’s claims.

We see how co-management of Mille Lacs does not work therefore we support Mille Lacs County Board in their latest efforts.

Doug
Douglas J. Meyenburg
PERM Presdent

County claims reservation causes harm due to uncertainty

By Vivian LaMoore - Mille Lacs Messenger - Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Mille Lacs County responds to Band lawsuit filed in federal court at same time files a counterclaim

Mille Lacs County filed a response to the federal lawsuit filed by the Mille Lacs Band last November. The county has added a counterclaim. In a nutshell, the county’s response and counterclaim is aimed solely on the boundary issue and claims the Mille Lacs Band reservation does not exist. The county says the uncertainty is causing harm.

The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe filed a lawsuit in federal court in November of 2017 against Mille Lacs County as a whole and individually included the Mille Lacs County sheriff and county attorney. Late in December 2017, Mille Lacs County filed a response and included a counterclaim adding several members of the Band government and individually tribal police chief Sara Rice and sergeant Derrick Naumann.

The counterclaim also names the following Mille Lacs Band government officials: chief executive Melanie Benjamin, secretary/treasurer Carolyn Shaw-Beaulieu, District I representative Sandra Blake, District II representative David Aubid, District III representative Harry Davis; all individually and in their official capacity with the Mille Lacs Band.

The four counts to the counterclaim are requesting the court provide the following:

1. Declaratory judgement of disestablishment of the 1855 reservation;

2. Enjoining the exercise of federal and inherent criminal law enforcement outside of trust lands;

3. Declaratory judgement the Band is estopped from contesting the reservation status;

4. Declaratory judgement that the Indian Claims Commission Act bars the resurrection of the 1855 reservation.

[Definition of declaratory judgement via law.com: "a judgment of a court which determines the rights of parties without ordering anything be done or awarding damages. While this borders on the prohibited 'advisory opinion,' it is allowed to nip controversies in the bud."]

In a nutshell, the county is requesting the federal court to rule: to declare the disestablishment of the 1855 treaty; prohibit tribal criminal law enforcement outside of trust land; prevent the Band from approaching the subject of questioning the status of the reservation anytime in the future; and lastly, prohibit any resurrection of the 1855 treaty.

The Band claim

The basis of the lawsuit filed by the Band revolves around their claim the lack of a cooperative law enforcement agreement with the county has limited law enforcement by tribal officers and thereby caused harm to the community by an increase in crime and drug use resulting in 15 overdose deaths since the revocation of the law enforcement agreement.

The Band has held true to their belief the 1855 treaty has never been disestablished. The Band's original complaint (lawsuit) is an eight page document. In that complaint the Band states the reservation was established by a treaty in 1855 and comprises approximately 61,000 acres. Part of that is in federally protected trust land (3,572 acres) and part of that is owned by the Band in fee lands (6,122 acres). The remaining land is not mentioned in the Band’s complaint, other than the remaining acreage of approximately 51,306 acres remain within the boundary of the originally 1855 treaty. The Band's complaint states Band members live throughout the entire 61,000 acres of the 1855 treaty. The Band's complaint is requesting concurrent jurisdiction of criminal law enforcement over the entire 61,000 acres to ensure the safety of all Band members.

The Band complaint references the existence of the 1855 treaty and the establishment of the 61,000-acre reservation no more than two times.

Counterclaim

The county's response and counterclaim is a 34 page document. Within that document the county mentions reference to the county's longstanding belief that the reservation of the 1855 treaty was disestablished and not ever re-established no less than 60 times. The county "denies that the reservation still exists."

The county denies many of the points raised by the Band's complaint. The county counterclaim must show harm, according to the U.S. Supreme Court rule of standings. The counterclaim states the harm comes from the dispute over the existence of the 1855 reservation has "created controversy, uncertainty and risk, and has injured the county in the exercise of its criminal and civil regulatory authority outside of trust lands."

The counterclaim states the uncertainty over the existence of the 1855 reservation "causes conflict and uncertainty affecting the lives and property of county residents on a daily basis." The county claims the "uncertainty" has resulted in an "undermine property tax values for on fee lands within the original boundaries of the 1855 reservation, and reduce the tax base and income for the county accordingly."

The county counterclaim states: "non-Indians are also of the view that reservation status is a very serious and unsettling issue. Some have publically acknowledged considering selling their property and moving elsewhere. Others on both sides, have discussed the issue in terms that increase divisiveness and animosity, creating an atmosphere of distrust and social unrest in this rural area."

Proof of actual harm

This case has been filed in federal court. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-2 on May 16, 2016, in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, No. 13-1339, that a plaintiff must allege "concrete" and "actual" harm in order to sue in federal court, according to squirepattonboggs.com. In other words, the plaintiff, in this case both plaintiffs, must show there has been real harm caused by the actions of the defendant.

The Band is the original plaintiff, therefore must prove the defendant, the county, has caused harm to the Band. Since the county filed a counterclaim and is thereby the counter plaintiff, the county must prove the Band has caused harm to the county.

As of press time, no further action has been taken by the court.

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Casino revenue takes a hit--along with Mille Lacs economy

January 30, 2018
It's good to hear Mille Lacs Band Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin admitting to "declining revenue from gaming," which she says will come back when the Mille Lacs Lake walleye population recovers. The link to walleye population was made in her January 9th State of the Band address.

Wonder if she is aware of how much Mille Lacs businesses and local economy have suffered for the same reason. There is a lot of controversy over whether the Mille Lacs walleye population is in decline or not. There is no question about the decline in the number of anglers from the loss of Mille Lacs as a premier angling destination. Angler decline is directly related to the mess made by DNR/Tribal "co-management."

Erik Jacobson, Garrison MN, writes that the since the lake "is loaded with walleyes--of all sizes," The problem is that "regulations have been too stringent for too long." (Mille Lacs Messenger Mailbag, "Letter of the Week," Wednesday, January 24.)

He asks that regulations keep up with the actual state of the walleye population in the lake. If "walleye fishing will stay open the entire open water season and anglers can take home some fish," then "Everyone in this area will benefit."

Read Erik Jacobson's "Gaming and Walleye Population" analysis below.

Doug,
Douglas J. Meyenburg, President, PERM

Next MLFAC Meeting

The next MLFAC meeting has been rescheduled for February 5th. But the location has not been determined. Last minute designation will likely limit the public's attendance, so we encourage you to attend. PERM will post and email the location as soon as we find out.

PERM's regularly scheduled meeting will be postponed one week (to February 12) so that PERM Board members can attend the MLFAC meeting.

Technical Meeting

On the next day, February 6th, will be the DNR – Tribal "Technical Meeting" when the walleye quotas for 2018 are supposed to be set. If the DNR doesn't pick up on anything coming out of the MLFAC meetings, the Technical Meeting will probably be pretty short, since most of the quota-setting details were locked in for the next three years by the secretly negotiated "Consensus: Mille Lacs Fishery Harvest Plan, 2017-2020."

Caucuses

Remember that the evening of February 6th is set aside (starting at 7pm) for precinct caucuses across the state. All citizens are invited to take the first step in deciding who our candidates are and what your party stands for. You can also offer resolutions for new planks in your party's platform.

Real (new) leadership from the Governor's office, Attorney General's office, and the Legislature may be the only thing that can break the logjam at the Mille Lacs fishery.

Whether you attend or not, plan on asking your candidates questions about where they stand on the issues--for example, "What, specifically, will you do to end the stalemate caused by the failure of co-management of the Mille Lacs fishery?"

For more information and to learn where your precinct caucus meets, check out the Minnesota Secretary of State's website here. (If you just need the location, go to Caucus Finder here.)

Gaming and walleye population

Messenger Mailbag -Letter of the week Wednesday, January 24, 2018

I read with interest the article in the Jan. 17 issue of the Mille Lacs Messenger covering Mille Lacs Band Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin's State of the Band address. Of the many important topics she spoke of, as a fisherman, one in particular caught my eye. She said one of the challenges that the Band is facing is "declining revenue from gaming" but she expects the profits to recover when the Mille Lacs Lake walleye population recovers. Which she said "appears to be right on track." I couldn't agree more, it's not only right on track, it's been on track for a number of years now. So if the population is admittedly on track why aren't the regulations keeping pace?

Last summer, anglers were only allowed to fish 78 days of a normal 200-plus day season. The lake was closed to walleye fishing the other 122-plus days of the season. On top of that, it's been two and a half years since open water anglers have been able to keep a walleye. Enough is enough already. Seems everybody except the DNR and the GLIFWC know the lake is loaded with walleyes – of all sizes. And now, for the umpteenth year in a row, winter anglers can keep only one fish (which feels like a gift) and the slot has been set at an unprecedented 20- to 22-inch size range, once again protecting the hallowed year class of 2013. That year class appears to be in the high teens lengthwise right now, and are quickly on their way to another untouchable size.

If that year class continues to be protected, it is going to grow into one the biggest eating machines yet and the cannibalism that has plagued Mille Lacs for years and years - when there is a low natural forage base - will continue. The good news is, right now the lake is loaded with small perch. Every place I’ve put the camera down this winter there are scads of them. The lake is also full of good size tullibees. Muskie fishing last fall, I snagged so many it actually became a nuisance. So in my opinion, there is a lot of natural forage in the lake at this time.

So if indeed the Band's gaming revenues are suffering, it's not from a lack of walleyes in the lake. It's because regulations have been too stringent for too long. Regulations dictate whether fishermen that want to take a meal home will come or not--it's really that simple. Loosen up the regulations and everyone will benefit--including the lake. So I ask you Ms. Benjamin, why don't you make a suggestion--or better yet, an executive order, if possible, to GLIFWC to suggest/agree to a more liberal allocation so the walleye fishing will stay open the entire open water season and anglers can take home some fish? Everyone in this area will benefit.

Erik Jacobson, Garrison

Badly misplayed 'race card'

By Joe Fellegy Outdoor News, Vol. 50, No. 43

The Star Tribune's Oct. 1 Outdoors section carried a Tony Kennedy Q&A with Bradley Harrington Jr., who became the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe's DNR commissioner earlier this year. Amazingly, the Strib facilitates the racism smear against Mille Lacs-connected resorters, anglers, and others who rightfully dispute the horrendous political state-tribal co-management of Mille Lacs – with no hard follow-up questions!

(Co-management refers to Minnesota's DNR plus eight Chippewa DNRs under the Wisconsin-based Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission umbrella.)

The article's intro highlighted the theme of "anti-Indian racial tension." And Kennedy asked, "Do you think vocal opponents of the joint management system have a racist agenda or anti-Indian agenda?" Harrington's lengthy response included the following: "Many of the most vocal voices clearly have an anti-Indian agenda rooted in racism. These are the same people who threw rocks at Native Americans exercising their rights in the 1990s. The recent 'Circle the Wagons' rally (where protesters in boats encircled Gov. Mark Dayton while he promoted Mille Lacs bass fishing) is a perfect example of blatant racism at play on Mille Lacs."

Really? Which "vocal voices" and protesters? Citizen members of the Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee? Proper Economic Resource Management, the fund-raising arm of the landowners in the anti-Minnesota 1837 treaty rights case?

Hmm. I attended numerous PERM fund-raisers where the group's leaders and attorneys routinely reminded citizens that their cause was about law and resource management, not about race or opposing "the Indians." PERM, still active on tribal-related issues today, continues to embrace that non-racist theme.

I recently asked Minnesota DNR personnel if they've witnessed anti-Indian racist incidents at monthly MLFAC meetings or at other Mille Lacs issue sessions. No replies from Commissioner Tom Landwehr, Fisheries Chief Don Pereira, Regional Fisheries Manager Brad Parsons, or the DNR Fish and Wildlife Division's Policy and Planning Consultant Katie Clower, who facilitates MLFAC meetings and corresponds with members. Honest responses would say no racism!

Know that with tribal-related issues, the race card is misplayed to silence and discredit those posing relevant questions about high-impact policies, such as treaty management at Mille Lacs and elsewhere.

As the late Chippewa journalist Bill Lawrence (1939-2010) reminded his non-Indian friends: Always distinguish between "the Indians," meaning the people, and what he called the modern "Indian industry" – a rich and super-powerful corporate-legal-political force.

Is there a principle in government, politics, journalism, and academics that exempts modern tribal governments, their resource-management agencies, and state personnel who interact with them, from due scrutiny and accountability?

Hey, they impact public policy, the public treasury, and the well-being of Minnesota resources and people! What they do is fair game for questions, discussion, debate, and criticism every day of the year.

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Letter: More Mille Lacs propaganda

Letter to the Editor, Outdoor News

As I read the headline "Ojibwe leader says Mille Lacs not recovered yet," (Star Tribune, Oct. 1, 2017), I said to myself, here we go again.

The story was a Q & A with Bradley Harrington Jr. The quote under his picture said that he thought “science ought to guide walleye harvest, not finances” – and I agree, as long as it’s sound science.

But I also think it’s unconscionable what management of the lake has done to the local economy.

The first question (of Harrington) mentioned a “greater walleye harvest” for anglers. This implies there was an actual harvest by anglers. There has been no harvest in the summer by anglers for the past two years, yet there has been a continual harvest by the bands with no interruption – of actual walleyes, not mythical post mortality poundage.

Harrington went on to say the lake is once again “struggling” – as our DNR keeps saying. He also said “the financial element should not be considered.” Which is true, but then he rounded out his answer with “preparing for tough times in a nature-focused industry should have been considered because that is good business.”

But how can businesses prepare for several years of slashed allocations due to obviously flawed data? Fishing has rarely been better than it was this summer. You can theorize all you want about the factors, but the fact remains, the lake is loaded with walleyes of all sizes right now. And not a single one has hit the fry pan in the past two summers.

Getting back to the “nature-focused” comment: For years, slot limits – not nature – have forced anglers to release eating-size walleyes that were outside the slot, only to allow them to grow bigger. The past two summers, anglers have had to release all walleyes – when the season wasn’t shut down to fishing for them.

The slot limits have built up giant eating machines of big walleyes though the years – and the DNR has admitted that. And now, the renowned class of 2013 that the DNR wants to protect – and has been virtually untouchable – is approaching the 20-inch range and is another giant eating machine. No wonder there is cannibalism.

It’s painfully obvious the Lake Mille Lacs walleye fishery has turned into a political battleground, with state anglers and businesses on the front line, and with the higher powers apparently wanting nothing to do with changing it.

Mille Lacs walleyes were alive and well long before computer programs and this type of “science” got involved.

Erik Jacobson, Garrison

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Tribes to hold moose hunt again

Harvest could be up to 44 bulls

September 15, 2017
Equal hunting and fishing rights? In A report in the September 15 issue of Outdoor News stated that The Fond du Lac Band, Grand Portage, and Bois Forte Bands of Lake Superior Chippewa are planning to harvest 44 bull moose this season.

For everybody else the state hunting is closed this year to allow herd to recover.

Pat Rivers, the Minnesota DNR's deputy director of fish and wildlife thinks the harvest of to 44 bull moose "shouldn’t harm the overall moose herd."

Rivers said "We haven’t heard much" public comment against the hunts. "There hasn’t been a large outcry." Calling the hunt a "ceremonial harvest" Rivers added that it "seems like a reasonable accommodation to make."

Each tribe is pursuing moose hunts and deriving quotas on their own.

Tribal biologist Mike Schrage said quotas are based on "demonstrated needs of the tribal community" along with other factors, "the way any natural resources agency would."

Schrage said that the current moose population of about 3,700 animals "has not recovered to its 2006 estimate of more than 8,000." But, since the population has stabilized for the past five or six years, Schrage feels "very comfortable from a biological standpoint issuing bull permits," he said. "We can issue some bull permits and not hurt the population."

DNR's Rivers confirmed that reinstating a hunt for state sportsmen isn't anywhere near the table at the moment. There is still pressure to restore the hunt but right now their focus is on the status of the heard. "We just haven't considered [reinstatement] he said, adding, "We are not likely to open a harvest anytime soon."

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New analysis of DNR approach to managing Mille Lacs walleye

DNR management of Mille Lacs walleye questioned

September 21, 2017
Paul Radomski, Minnesota DNR Ecological and Water Resources research biologist is challenging basic assumptions behind DNR management of the Mille Lacs walleye fishery.

Radomski presents his research as "Personal observations on the management of the Mille Lacs walleye fishery." In it he provides a much different view of DNR's co-management of Mille Lacs walleye fishery.

Radomski's August 25, 2017 report tries to answer two questions:
What aspects of Mille Lacs fisheries management need improvement?
What factors were important in the reduction of the walleye population?

His Summary:

1. The Mille Lacs fisheries management goal of protecting large walleye has suppressed young walleye survival and reduced walleye productivity

2. The current Mille Lacs walleye spawning stock biomass is plentiful and the population can produce ample walleye eggs and very large numbers of young walleye.

3. The walleye populations has not collapsed, weakened, or failed; however, the management system has struggled. Suggestions are provided on how to improve the system.

Key points include the following:

** Recent walleye quotas were set assuming that spawning stock biomass was at or near critically low levels. This assumption is incorrect. The current Mille Lacs walleye spawning stock biomass is plentiful and the population can produce ample walleye eggs and very large numbers of young walleye.

** The management goal of protecting large fish has suppressed young walleye survival and reduced walleye productivity.

** Therefore, a benchmark that is used to influence quota setting and close the Mille Lacs walleye fishery appears arbitrary.

** The Mille Lacs walleye population has not collapsed, weakened, or failed, nor does it need to be rebuilt; however, the management system has struggled

** Meeting a quota with hard edges and undue protection of large fish is not likely in the best interest of a tribal or sport angler fishery

** the management system could be simpler. It could be more pragmatic on the difficulties of estimating the number of walleye in the lake with enough accuracy for a hard-edged quota

** Strong year classes are more likely when spawning stock biomass is of moderate abundance rather than at high abundance

** Therefore, it is reasonable lo conclude that a policy of continual stockpiling and maintenance of high spawning stock biomass was the most likely factor in the lower Mille Lacs walleye population.

Download Report

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DNR secret deal with tribe deal raises suspicion, distrust

Star Tribune report includes evidence that the public wasn't supposed to find out about the walleye harvest agreement.

September 11, 2017
The DNR's fishery chief Don Pereira is seeing distrust and public discord around Mille Lacs grow. Hopefully, he will learn more because the DNR is expected to be "on the hot seat to re-explain its management strategy of the famed Mille Lacs walleye fishery," according to a report in the Star Tribune. "Lawmakers in St. Paul and the Mille Lacs County Board have scheduled meetings to hear from Pereira and others."

The DNR is accused of hiding "details of a key walleye agreement made this spring with eight Chippewa bands that co-manage the lake." While the DNR has said, "mistakes were made," the incident is driving demands to restore walleye fishing.

Mille Lacs area residents believe walleye stocks have recovered, based on "phenomenal catch rates."

Elected leadership including Rep. Sondra Erickson, R-Princeton, and Mille Lacs County Commissioner Dave Oslin are calling for the DNR "to be tougher in tribal negotiations to increase the state's harvest allocation," according to the report. "The whole idea of negotiating a quota has to be re-examined," Erickson said.

Legislators have met with Erickson, and Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, is expected to question DNR officials next week. DNR fisheries chief Don Pereira will be questioned by the Mille Lacs County Board in early October. Oslin said the county will present data to show economic losses related to stringent walleye quotas.

Oslin and Erickson agree with Mille Lacs anglers who don't believe the DNR's rigid position that there's a walleye crisis. Oslin said, "A growing core of stakeholders around Mille Lacs believes co-management of the fishery with the Chippewa is't working and should be challenged," according to the report. Co-management protocols stemming from a 1996 federal court order "can be changed and the state should flex its muscles."

MLFAC co-chairman Dean Hanson attacked the DNR over the secret walleye agreement, which set quotas through 2020. The agency brought up points of the agreement, "but the document itself wasn't distributed until Erickson uncovered it," the report stated.

Secrecy appears to have been deliberate, since the signed agreement's masthead included the statement: "Copies of This Memorandum Should Not be Included in Any Files, Which May be Requested by Private Parties." DNR’s Pereira called it an "honest mistake" for not releasing the document to the public, calling the leaked document just "a draft."

Despite being signed and dated by all parties to the agreement.

The report quotes MLFAC Co-Chair Dean Hanson saying, "Things like this really cast a shadow on the whole process. … There's a lot of trust issues here." He is frustrated that "the DNR doesn't take MLFAC input seriously."

Pereira was also quoted, saying, "It's a constant frustration to manage the Mille Lacs fishery while having "to exert so much energy managing human dimensions."

Getting past the secrecy and respecting the volunteer efforts of the Mille Lacs Fishery Advisory Committee would have saved a lot of that energy.

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MLFAC Co-Chair Dean Hanson responds to DNR Landwehr's 'that was just a draft'
September 8, 2017

Commissioner Landwehr:

I have reviewed both your and Katie Clower's responses to my e-mail regarding the Consensus Agreement with GLIFIC and the Bands from March & April 2017. Since you have declined to have a public meeting to discuss this situation, I will respond to both of the e-mails at one time.

In Katie's e-mail, she included a copy of a document, which she states was the final agreement. This document does not contain the opening paragraph, which restricted disclosure to the public. Upon reviewing that document (copies of both documents attached), I have several questions. First, if you place page 4 of that document alongside page 4 of the original restricted document, the signatures and dates when they were signed look strikingly similar, and in fact, they look identical to the naked eye. I do not think if you gave me one hundred tries to sign my name twice, any two of my signatures would look that similar. Also, why if both documents were available on March 31, 2017 when they were signed by Don Pereira, was the draft agreement signed along with the supposed final agreement? In the same way, why would the other three parties who signed the agreement seven to twelve days later sign the draft? It would seem reasonable that all of the parties would only sign the final agreement.

Both you and Katie make a point that the lack of disclosure to MLFAC and the public was an oversight and it was not intentionally withheld. I find it surprising that in all of the discussions since March 31, 2017 about harvestable surplus, regulations, closures, conservation caps, etc., no mention of this agreement was ever made and no attempt was made to give anyone a copy of it.

You both also state that the substance of the agreement was discussed with MLFAC members last spring. I certainly agree that we discussed the 2016 overage and its payback, as well as, 2017 safe harvest limits and allocation. There were several elements of the agreement which were never disclosed to us, most notably the fact that the Bands would receive 50% of any harvestable surplus over 64,000 pounds in 2018-2020. It was also never disclosed to us that you had agreed upon parameters for calculating harvestable surplus levels for 2018-2020 based on 2017 spawning stock biomass levels, nor that you had agreed to be locked in to the latest hooking mortality study, which we have many problems with, as outlined in our latest recommendations to you.

In your e-mail, you also outline the problems created by the State's overage in 2016. It was not allowed by your agreement with the Bands. My question then would be; was the Governor made aware of the potential consequences of his decision by either the DNR or the Attorney General's office prior to its announcement? It would seem that this information would be critical to his decision. If he were aware of the consequences, why would he proceed? If not, why was he not given this information? It had some very negative consequences for the citizens of Minnesota.

I have also listened for years to you and other DNR employees say we have no chance if the State went back to court. We cannot win so we should give the Bands whatever they want. I am curious what basis you have for this conclusion. To the best of my knowledge, neither you nor Governor Dayton are attorneys so I assume this conclusion comes from Attorney General Swanson. Have any independent parties ever reviewed these conclusions? There are several national law firms who deal with Native American treaties and rights on a daily basis and are current with the latest court decisions. Would the citizens of Minnesota benefit from having one of these law firms review the State's legal position and options?

In conclusion, there remain many questions about this entire situation, and I still believe an open meeting for MLFAC members and other interested parties would be beneficial.

Dean Hanson
Agate Bay Resort
Co-Chair MLFAC

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Dayton Accused of Secret Deal with Tribes on Mille Lacs Walleye Limits

By Tom Steward September 03, 2017 Center of the American Experiment - Thinking Minnesota

Gov. Dayton may be even less welcome around Mille Lacs now than when a flotilla of sportsmen and residents interrupted his photo op earlier this summer on what used to be the nation’s best walleye fishery. Anglers have endured an extended ban on walleye fishing interspersed with catch-and-release restrictions this summer, due to what critics view as mismanagement of the resource by the Dayton administration.

Now the co-chair of the Mille Lacs Fishery Advisory Committee has accused the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Dayton of cutting a secret deal with the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibway and other tribes on the walleye harvest for the next three years. The agreement was finalized in March, but only recently came to light.

MLFAC Co-Chair Dean Hanson launched a blistering letter to DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr, accusing him of going behind the backs of a citizens group that was supposed to be part of the process.

"We were shocked to say the least. No one from the DNR had ever spoken to MLFAC about this agreement, either before or after its signing. This agreement was never disclosed to the public at any time. Why would the DNR secretly negotiate a settlement like this without disclosing it to anyone?"

Hanson criticizes several aspects of the deal, including a "boost to treaty harvest quotas" that he says "could severely reduce our potential harvest in the future."

A powerful conservation group, Proper Economic Resource Management, also ripped Dayton and the DNR for a lack of transparency and paying lip-service to local businesses and residents who depend on the fishery. On the PERM website, President Douglas Meyenburg called on DNR Commissioner Landwehr and DNR head of fisheries Don Pereira to resign.

"This shows the DNR's leadership has no regard for the MLFAC members whom they appoint. It ignores the constituencies MLFAC represents and the suggestions they have been making for improving the 'co-management of Mille Lacs.' The agreement leads one to believe all the meetings with Governor Dayton and DNR officials have been nothing more than dog-and-pony shows. If an agreement like this has to be done behind closed doors, and the results known only if leaked, is ther more going on than meets the eye?"

Meyenburg added that the parties to the agreement "should be exposed for breaking trust with the citizens of Minnesota, and violating the spirit of the Supreme Court’s affirmation of 1837 Treaty harvest rights."

One of the conservation group’s guiding principles is listed on its website: "PERM believes that our public natural resources should be managed for the benefit of ALL citizens, and not exclusively for the benefit of those with political access or clout.
Read more

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Video details DNR’s MLFAC betrayal
The DNR squanders its relationship with MLFAC

August 29, 2017
Mille Lacs Fishery Advisory Committee (MLFAC) member Steve Johnson yesterday released a video discussing the DNR's betrayal of its own "Advisory" Committee. The betrayal stems from the DNR's secretly negotiating an agreement with the Mille Lacs and Fond du Lac Bands and GLIFWC. Johnson's videos follow MLFAC Co-Chair Dean Hanson's letter to DNR Commissioner Landwehr sent last week.

"No one from the DNR ever mentioned [Consensus: Mille Lacs Fishery Harvest Plan, 2017-2020] to MLFAC either before or after its signing," according to Johnson. It clearly left MLFAC members feeling betrayed.

Steve Johnson found it "disturbing" that the DNR would meet with tribal leaders, and never let on for months. "Not one single word or hint was given to MLFAC members, even though the dispute resolution topic was brought up at almost every meeting." Johnson said it was "nasty" and "completely uncalled for."

The DNR squandered its relationship and the trust MLFAC members and DNR leadership had painstakingly worked out over the past year. Loss of trust brings an obvious question: Was this really the first time? Given clues from the past, MLFAC may wonder how close the DNR's clandestine negotiation is to the norm.

After being exposed, the DNR is claiming the secret agreement is actually a "public document." That is a real stretch, given the heavy-handed warning (all initial caps in original) making up the agreement's first page headline:

"This Document is Subject to the Attorney-Client Privilege and Protected from Disclosure. The Department of Natural Resources May Waive the Privilege, But No Waiver Should Occur Without the Express Written Permission of the Governor, Commissioner and/or the Deputy Commissioner. A copy of this Memorandum Should Be Distributed Only to Employees Whose Input is Necessary to Resolve the Issues identified in This Memorandum. Copies of This Memorandum Should Not be Included in any Files Which May be Requested by Private Parties."

Almost as disturbing is the media's near total blackout on reporting the incident. The lack of transparency, and lack of any calls for transparency, only covers the DNR's backside and leaves Minnesotans out in the cold.

Feelings of helplessness and "this will never end" can by offset a bit by sharing these videos. And, by sending an email to Governor Dayton (HERE) as well as to your legislators (HERE).

Whether your Representative and Senator is Democrat, Republican, or Independent, now is the time to ask them for a priority investigation by the Office of the Legislative Auditor, and Legislative Committees looking back at all DNR-Tribal/GLIFWC meetings since Court ordered negotiations began.

Steve John today released a second video covering 20 years of history of "how we got here" regarding the "co-management" debacle at Mille Lacs.

Video #1 Behind MLFAC's Back
Video #2 Some historical info on Mille Lacs lake co-management

Please Like and Share Steve's videos when viewing them!

Doug
Douglas J. Meyenburg, President PERM

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Proposed casino in Ottertail County faces needed scrutiny

August 29, 2017
Otter Tail County commissioners last week voted to request a full environmental impact statement (EIS) for a proposed casino on Star Lake in response to concerns of local residents.

The White Earth Band of Chippewa is planning to build a Shooting Star Casino and Resort on about 270 acres near Dent, in a rural area of the county. The project includes a gambling facility, hotel, restaurants, conference center and RV park. It will be the White Earth Band’s third casino.

Federal law gives the band the right to build a casino on trust land set aside during treaty settlements long ago, but the county has the power to approve other aspects of the project. Only about 15 acres of the proposed 270 acres are Indian Trust land.

Local residents are worried what this casino would do to the ecosystem surrounding the lake, a very environmentally sensitive area. They are worried run-off from the casino will be detrimental to the lakes and wetlands. Too much human pressure on a fragile ecosystem, especially long-term, could be impossible to reverse.

The casino proposal involves the federal, state and county governments as well as a sovereign tribal nation. An application for a dredging and filling permit on the trust lands is pending with the Army Corps of Engineers. After the county sets the scope of the EIS and gets responses from the tribe, the board will have a maximum of 280 days to make a decision on its portion of the project.

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Mille Lacs Band gets $200,000 in Federal dollars for walleye work

The federal Tribal Wildlife Grant program grant to the Mille Lacs Band was awarded last week according to Outdoor News (Mixed Bag August 17, 2017)

Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced $199,075 in funding to Minnesota Native tribes. Over $990,000 was awarded to Minnesota state wildlife agencies through the State Wildlife Grants program.

The funds come from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which offers support for a range of species and habitats across the country.

The Mille Lacs Band’s funding will help identify key habitats for the conservation of juvenile and adult walleye in Lake Mille Lacs.

The $993,310 in funding for the State is part of $48 million being distributed nationwide. It will support endangered species and habitats listed in approved state wildlife action plans.

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MLFAC Burned: DNR negotiates secret agreement with tribes
No one from DNR ever spoke to MLFAC about this agreement

The following is a letter being sent today from Dean Hanson, Mille Lacs Fishery Advisory Committee to DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr. It is very troubling to say the least. Please read his letter (and DNR's Agreement with the Tribes) and see my comments below.

Doug Meyenburg

Dean Hanson's Letter

Dear Commissioner Landwehr,

We recently acquired a copy of an agreement called "Consensus: Mille Lacs Fishery Harvest Plan, 2017-2020", dated March 31, 2017 between the DNR, GLIFWIC, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (copy attached).

We were shocked to say the least. No one from the DNR had ever spoken to MLFAC about this agreement, either before or after its signing. This agreement was never disclosed to the public at any time. Why would the DNR secretly negotiate a settlement like this without disclosing it to anyone? This is exactly the type of thing, which reinforces our position that more transparency is needed in connection with DNR and Band discussions and negotiations. It is an example of why we have requested participation of some kind in FTC meetings.

We also need to consider that this agreement resulted from an overharvest of 6,800 pounds in 2016. It was an estimated hooking mortality, not an actual harvest. These numbers come from expansions of creel census data, which have always been suspect to us, as well as an estimated hooking mortality study, which we have questioned since its release. We also believe that this overage may well be within the margin of error of all of these calculations, as well. In addition, the DNR has stated several times that they do not believe that any harm was done to the spawning stock biomass, the 2013 year class or any part of the walleye population as a result of the overage. So why, given the insignificant overage and its minimal impact, did the DNR give up so much?

The DNR gave the Bands 50% of any harvestable surplus over 64,000 pounds. They set harvestable surplus levels, which could severely reduce our potential harvest in the future. They locked us in to a hooking mortality based on the suspect hooking mortality study. They locked us in to an overage program which all comes due in 2020 and will probably significantly reduce our harvest potential in 2018-2020.

At this point, what did you have to lose by letting them go back to court and fighting it? Maybe a Phase II lawsuit would settle the allocation issues with a more favorable outcome for Minnesota sportsmen.

We believe MLFAC, as well as the public deserves answers to these and many other questions and we request an open meeting with the DNR, MLFAC and anyone else who is interested within 2 weeks. Please respond to this as soon as possible.

Dean Hanson
Co-Chair, MLFAC

DNR's Agreement with the Tribes

My Take On Dean Hanson's Letter

The agreement was negotiated entirely in secret. This shows the DNR's leadership has no regard for the MLFAC members whom they appoint. It ignores the constituencies MLFAC represents and the suggestions they have been making for improving the "co-management" of Mille Lacs.

It must be infuriating to find out that Mille Lacs "co-management" regarding walleye angling has been hard-wired--for the next three years! Especially galling is having an agreement based on research methods and data challenged as faulty by MLFAC members at every meeting.

The agreement leads one to believe all the meetings with Governor Dayton and DNR officials have been nothing more than dog-and-pony shows.

If an agreement like this has to be done behind closed doors, and the results known only if leaked, is there more going on than meets the eye? At a minimum it look like a one-sided sweetheart deal of a payoff, extracted over a measly 6,800-pound overage.

It is time to hold the Governor and DNR accountable for their actions!

** DNR Commissioner Landwehr and Fisheries Chief Don Pereira must resign.

** Other parties to this agreement, tribal management and the taxpayer-funded GLIFWC, should also be held accountable. They should be exposed for breaking trust with the citizens of Minnesota, and violating the spirit of the Supreme Court's affirmation of 1837 Treaty harvest rights.

** Governor Dayton should call for a priority investigation by the Office of the Legislative Auditor to be conducted as soon as possible.

** The appropriate House and Senate Committees should not only review the Auditor's report, but also look back at all DNR-Tribal/GLIFWC meetings since Court ordered negotiations began.

** The appropriate House and Senate Committees should also review and prioritize previously submitted legislative proposals related to fixing Mille Lacs "co-management."

_______________________________________________

Gov. Dayton, DNR's Landwehr meet with Mille Lacs resort owners

Monday morning, August 14, driving up the west side of Mille Lacs Lake, I saw only a handful of boats, even on such a beautiful day. I was headed up to meet with Twin Pines' Linda Eno, Lundeen Tackle Castle's Bill Lundeen, and Red Door Resort's Steve Kulifaj.

I had the privilege of joining them for a meeting with Governor Mark Dayton and DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr. We met to discuss the impact of DNR regulations on anglers and Mille Lacs businesses.

The hour and a half meeting touched on a variety of issues. We had a straightforward conversation that was pointed at times. One highlight was a hearing on how hard it is to run a business without a plan. Can you imagine a Mille Lacs resort customer calling in January to book a summer stay, and having to ask if they can fish while on vacation!

The DNR-Tribal regulations are usually announced only a month or so before opener. These days pre-opener regs can be fleeting, since a mythical number called "hooking mortality," a term invented by the DNR-Tribal co-management team, drives the regs.

We also touched on the number and location of DNR test nets, inaccurate creel surveys and boat counts, DNR refusal or inability to answer questions and concerns brought by MLFAC members, and the State not standing up for non-tribal interests and anglers.

The Governor and Commissioner were reminded how Mille Lacs once provided memories and served the cultures for ALL who used it. When confronted with the debacle of 2016: the lake being closed, opened, and reclosed; the Governor stated he was threatened by the Mille Lacs Band of taking the state to court.

The consensus of resorters was "good, lets go back to court, only this time use all documents and input." Governor Dayton then stated he has no leverage. Resorters thought he had plenty, suggesting for example, expansion of statewide gambling. The possibility of even a few machines in each resort would provide all the leverage he needs.

I also had the opportunity to present the Governor with thousands of petitions collected by PERM to follow through on his campaign pledge: "I believe that all hunting and fishing in Minnesota should be done under the same rules". I also told them both "grow a pair" and tell the tribes they are in charge of all Minnesota's natural resources!

Since co-management was implemented bag limits have gone from 6 walleye to zero. Over 50 businesses have gone under. And those still open are surviving day to day.

The walleyes are there; take the politics out of managing them!

Douglas J. Meyenburg,
President, PERM

JOIN US!

PERM's Petition

Given that Governor Dayton believes "all hunting and fishing in Minnesota should be done under the same rules," PERM's petition asked for the following:

We the undersigned users of Minnesota's natural resources petition the Minnesota Governor, Attorney General, DNR Commissioner, and Legislature to protect the interests of all sportsmen and women, and Minnesota's economic future by:

* Passing enabling legislation requiring the DNR to consider the impact on the state's hunting and fishing when adopting game and fish rules, when applied equally to all citizens, and making funding decisions.

* Using all available means to ban the use of gillnets for game fish;

* Standing up for the interests of all citizens, sportsmen and women, property owners, and resort owners in any potential expansion of "treaty harvest rights";

* Making any such negotiations transparent to the public and subject to Minnesota's good government "open meeting" laws; and

* Enforcing the U.S. Supreme Court Holt Decision, stating Red Lake belongs to ALL citizens, and thereby--

Making your vision for equal protection of the law a reality.

*** PERM 2017 Legal Fund Raffle WINNERS! ***

Andy B.........Onamia.................Ruger American 30:06 Springfield Bolt

Wayne P.......Andover................Ruger America 270 Winchester Bolt

Kent S..........Hugo....................Winchester SXP 12ga Shotgun

Dean P.........Lino Lakes.............Ruger American .17 HMR caliber

Carol S........Bloomington...........Red Door Resort 3 nights-2 day for two

Kevin S........Hillman.................Twin Pines Eat-Sleep-Fish Package for Two

Kevin S........Excelsior...............Paul Hartman Muskie Guide Half Day

Pat K...........Hastings................Muskie Box with Lures

Congratulations to the winners! And many thanks to all who entered the raffle.
Your support is critical to PERM's success.

Doug Meyenburg responds to Rod Sando’s blame game
Secretly negotiated proposed settlement with Mille Lacs was strongly opposed before PERM was created

After reading former MN DNR Commissioner Rod Sando's editorial on Saturday July 15, Why the DNR is not Mille Lacs protesters' enemy, I am surprised that he gives PERM credit for defeating his secretly negotiated proposed settlement with the Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa.

That would have been quite an accomplishment, given that PERM was not formed until after ordinary business owners, residents, conservation groups (clubs), and concerned citizens discovered the "settlement" and testified before the Legislature to defeat his agreement. Sando likes to blame others for losing on a really bad deal.

If you want to know what his deal was about, start with the 49-page "Settlement Agreement Between The Mille Band Of Chippewa Indians and State Of Minnesota." You can find it at perm.org under Recommended Reading (Left panel.)

A few lowlights to look for:

1.) Sando made the settlement with Mille Lacs Band only, when seven other tribes also signed the 1837 Treaty. Had the state of Minnesota agreed to this deal, a Federal Court very quickly would have multiplied the payout seven times over!

2.) The Settlement included a $10,000,000 payout over four years (just over $16,000,000 in today's dollars.)

3.) The Settlement included a 6,000-acre exclusive Mille Lacs Chippewa treaty fishing zone border to be enforced by State of Minnesota. How many more acres would have been added if the other seven tribes asked the courts for equal treatment?

4.) Recognition of a long-since-disestablished 61,000-acre reservation, the boundaries of which would have put the communities of Isle, Wahkon, and most of Onamia, plus many landowners and businesses under tribal jurisdiction.

5.) The State would convey another 7,500 acres of land to the Mille Lacs Tribe, for which the State had to "acquire and present clear title."

6.) Fish harvest would have begun spring of 1993 in the 6,000-acre exclusive zone, and throughout all of Mille Lacs Lake, by tribal members outside of any State laws.

These are some of the realities of this "good deal." When it became apparent the deal was failing there was a mad scramble to change some parts, so there are some documents floating around with different numbers. (Take the time to read all 49 pages and you will discover other issues.) In the end it still failed.

Mainstream media ignored the troubling details of this mega-payout. Instead, they chose to brand Coach Bud Grant and those opposed to the settlement as RACIST for supporting the common folk, even though this document was the focal point of the legislative hearings.

After the settlement was defeated at the Legislature, landowners and affected counties were allowed in the lawsuit. It was at this point that PERM was formed to raise money and educate the public.

By Sando's own admission in his editorial, his Minnesota DNR--at that time--recommended businesses that depend heavily on fishing should diversify. Did they know even then how much gillnetting during the spawn would affect walleye populations in this premier walleye destination?

I challenge the mainstream press to find jut one reporter to do a full and in-depth story on how we got to the point we re at now. Dig a little. Review the Indian Claims Commission payments to the Mille Lacs and other Chippewa bands. Also look at the 1837 Treaty itself, which references a revocation of temporary hunting and fishing privileges. Find documents at perm.org

Mr. Sando, PERM members didn't specifically organize the recent Boat Rally protest on Mille Lacs. It was a spontaneous reaction to DNR co-management's over-reach. PERM did however promote it because so many concerned, frustrated citizens were willing to put their boats on the water for a cause.

Look at all the media coverage the Boat Rally got, reaching you in Oregon, a fish and wildlife resarcher in Alaska, and even being reported in the Wall Street Journal. It shows the issue is real, and can’t be dismissed or swept under the rug.

Doug
Douglas J. Meyenburg, President, PERM

Boat Rally to Keep our Walleye Fishing and Save our Economy
Join us on July 8th at 10 am

Gov. Dayton will be fishing on a Fisher's Resort launch boat on July 8th. So let's "circle the wagons" in a peaceful protest to Keep our Walleye Fishing and Save our Economy.

Please join us in a show of support for Lake Mills Lacs walleye. Head up early, have breakfast at an area resort or restaurant, show your support, do a little fishing, and have a meal locally before leaving. This an attempt to show the Governor and his media there is support, please join us and be respectful!

Doug,
Douglas J. Meyenburg
President, PERM

WHY SHOULD YOU JOIN US?

JOIN US!

*** DNR Management of the lake has nothing to do with Biology anymore, it is all about Politics (Governor and DNR's fishing shutdown decision reversed course so they would not "hurt our relationship with the Bands." Star Tribune 8/24/2016)

*** In 18 years our State has brought this lake from a premier Walleye lake with limits of 6 to closure of the Walleye Season (Mille Lacs DNR Management is a Perfect Example of Public Policy Gone Mad!)

*** How do you have an economy based on fishing and justify shutting the fishing down? (Over 50 Small Business have vanished from the lake; many more struggle to survive.)

RALLY INFO

The Governor's Launch will depart from Fisher's Resort at 9 am. Fisher's Resort is located on the NE corner of Mille Lacs.

Check in on the Twin Pines Resort Facebook page for updates and LIVE broadcasts as the rally forms. Facebook.com/TwinPinesResort

Email questions to DougMeyenburg@hotmail.com or LindaEno@live.com

Let's send a loud and clear peaceful message to the Governor from the water! (Remember to be respectful of other fishermen.)

SPONSORS
Save Mille Lacs Sport Fishing PERM

DNR relies on little more than guesswork to set regs
'Co-management' solutions only look at half the equation

The issues on Mille Lacs persist! Last year, before going into the "co-management" technical meetings, the DNR admitted they didn't know how many walleye were in Mille Lacs. But now they're able to say we have about 50% less than historical levels?

At many of the MLFAC meetings, I've heard the DNR mention walleye population study numbers. They could be plus or minus 10%, or 12%, or 15%. Now it's 50% less?

Last week Gov. Dayton had some members of MLFAC committee down for lunch to discuss the issues. They talked. He listened. But there were no proposals coming from Gov. Dayton!

People who take the pulse of the lake daily have a much better picture of the state of the lake!

So I am asking you to use the link at perm.org to email the Governor. Ask him to take action immediately and do away with "co management."

Of course the tribes may sue. But maybe that's exactly what's needed. "Co management" or not, Dayton is still accountable to us, the taxpayers. He is ultimately responsible for protecting natural resources for ALL Minnesotans

Steve Johnson, Mille Lacs Fishery Advisory Committee member, and a longtime business owner on Mille Lacs, explains.

Doug,
Douglas J. Meyenburg,
President, PERM

New 'We the People' Petition Launched
Local advocate for Mille Lacs asks angling community to petition the White House to save the walleye

(PERM is sharing this because we support any effort to normalize usage of Mille Lacs and do away with "co-management.")

Call to Action
"Pursuant to an 1837 Treaty, several Chippewa Bands ceded land in present-day Minnesota and Wisconsin to the United States. The United States, in turn, guaranteed to the Indians certain hunting, fishing, and gathering rights on the ceded land "during the pleasure of the President of the United States." This new petition calls for the elimination of bilateral management of the lake's resources.

We need the support of the angling community.

Petition seeks to 'remedy' Mille Lacs
Petition has PERM's support

Outdoor News today reported on a whitehouse.gov petition that seeks a "remedy to eliminate bilateral control of" Lake Mille Lacs' walleye management. The lake's walleye is managed jointly by the DNR and Chippewa tribes as a result of a 1999 Supreme Court decision in the Chippewa v. Minnesota case.

The petition's creator, Jon Knudsen, a launch boat captain at Nitti's Hunters Point Resort, is advocating for President Trump to curb the Treaty's harvest privileges in the 1837 ceded territory. It states that the harvest privilege "is guaranteed to the Indians, during the pleasure of the President of the United States."

The Supreme Court concluded, "President Taylor’s 1850 Executive Order was ineffective to terminate Chippewa usufructuary rights under the 1837 treaty."

However, Knudsen is relying on Justice Sandra Day O'Connor’s opinion, in which she states, "We do not mean to suggest that a President, now or in the future, cannot revoke the Chippewa usufructuary rights in accordance with the terms of the 1837 treaty."

Knudsen says the current system isn’t fair to state anglers and surrounding businesses. "We can't have anything for the table, and the Indians can go out and keep 10 fish, any size," he said. "How can you recognize the Indians’ right to fish and not our right to keep fish?"

The petition has the blessing of PERM, which has long been involved in the issues of fisheries management on Mille Lacs.

Doug Meyenburg Jr., President of PERM, said the group is "in favor of anybody doing anything positive to straighten out the situation on Mille Lacs."

Asked if PERM itself was reaching out to the Trump administration, Meyenburg said the group is examining its options. "We are always working continually to straighten the mess out," he said.

Knudsen, who is not a member of PERM, said he appreciates what the group has done.

"It's a political powder keg that none of our elected officials or representatives want anything to do with," Knudsen said, hopeful that Trump, who has rallied on lifting regulations to help businesses, could be the one modern president to get involved.
Read more

We need the support of the angling community.

Please click 'We the People' link below, then sign when prompted by the White House website. There will be an e-mail sent and you will have to click on their confirmation link to be counted."

Petition
We the people ask the federal government to Change an existing Administration policy:

Remedy to eliminate bilateral control of Mille Lacs Lake, MN to save the walleye population of the lake.

Created by J.K. on June 13, 2017

Because of closed season netting by Sovereign Ojibwe and MN DNR regulations, the tourism and angler's right to fish are being denied the region that is dependent on tourist dollars to survive. All administrative remedies have been exhausted. The region is losing it's appeal to fishermen that can only shake their heads at the inconclusive measures that so-called "treaty" management has done to this premier walleye destination. The Sovereign Nation of Ojibwe claims it has the "right" to decimate the lake to take as many fish as it can take and dictate how many fish everyone else can have. This is beyond their "sovereign" discretion. We aren't allowed to take any fish as a result. There is a plentiful population of walleye in the lake, yet they would deny anglers the right to fish.

Outside experts to review DNR's Mille Lacs walleye management
Dennis Anderson reviews the June 5 MLFAC meeting

I reminded DNR Fisheries chief Don Pereira about a comment he made after attending the Technical Committee meeting with the tribes (which he attended having no idea about the number of walleyes in the lake.) He said this year's DNR management and quotas would be about the political more than the biological.

That might explain the DNR’s using—and over emphasizing—"hooking mortality" as a cover for being way to conservative with the quota.

Many experts are saying we need to get more of the large walleyes out of the lake. They are eating machines with poorer fertility. Removing some would actually protect stock levels.

At some point the DNR has to realize they are the ultimate authority and still in charge of Mille Lacs' conservation.

Anderson's article is worth reviewing since it covers the experience of resorters.

See Also ... Steve Johnson's June 7 Facebook post (Johnson's Portside on Mille Lacs) for a more detailed explanation.)

Doug
Douglas J. Meyenburg, President, PERM

Anglers, citizens concerned about Mille Lacs encouraged to attend Advisory Committee meeting

The Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee will meet from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Monday, June 5, at the Garrison Town Hall, 27069 Central St. in Garrison.

DNR staff will provide updates on the fishery, including upcoming research projects and preliminary findings from last year's experimental stocking.

The committee will also be discussing its future activities. Members of the public are welcome to attend and observe these meetings, and 15 minutes at the end of each meeting is reserved for public comments and questions.

Please attend and feel free to speak up during the "public comments and question" period at the end of the meeting. The DNR needs to know we are paying attention and want to keep politics out of co-management.

Upcoming PERM Board meetings are scheduled for Wednesday, June 14 and again on Monday July 10 at 7:30 pm in the Boardroom at the Cinema Professional Bldg., 657 Main Street, in Elk River.

Doug
Doug Meyenburg, President, PERM

Band's walleye take a lesson in conservation
Fond du Lac Band has tough year for walleye in 1854 Treaty lakes. Makes up for it in 1837 Treaty lakes, especially Mille Lacs.

A story in Outdoor News today, May 12, 2017, shows that Mother Nature often creates tough odds for survival. The Fond du Lac Band was reminded of this again this spring.

Many factors can affect survival. Aspects of water quality including dissolved oxygen, temperature, and pH have been known to affect walleye egg survival. Egg adhesiveness can remain for a little as one to two hours. High wind speeds from the wrong direction or at critical times can transport eggs and move substrates and "should be considered a critical factor in annual walleye egg survival and year-class strength."

The odds for survival are long enough. Why would any fishery management add to that by allowing gillnetting during the walleye spawn?

PERM's position is American Indians were made citizens of the United States in 1924. They must follow the laws that all other Americans have to follow. PERM continues to promote equal hunting and fishing rights for all!

Keep your lines tight and your tip up!

Doug

For Fond du Lac Band, walleye take in ’17 a tale of two ceded territories

By Javier Serna, Outdoor News, May 12, 2017

Brian Borkholder, inland fisheries biologist for Fond du Lac Resource Management blamed the weather for the poor 1854 lakes take. "That’s fishing." he said. "it warmed up too early on some lakes, and got too cold on others, particularly when a recent ice storm hit Cook County."

The Fond du Lac Band harvests game and fish in northeast Minnesota under treaty rights in the 1854 ceded territory. Those rights were upheld in U.S. District Court by Judge Richard Kyle in 1996. That ruling prevents the state from regulating band harvest.

Mille Lacs 2017 Tribal Spearing - Video

An April 25th video shows spearers working the shoreline during the walleye spawn. This type of action is playing over and over on Mille Lacs. It shows the disruption of the spawning process. It even shows an example of how spearing has its own "spearing mortality."
Watch video

Doug
Douglas Meyenburg, President, PERM

Spring netting is not 'fine'

Tom Wolak, from Foley, has it right when he writes "I can't believe [the DNR] still adheres to the idea that there is no correlation between spring tribal netting and the decline in walleye numbers." We must remember that there is a short time period for the laid eggs to be fertilized! So not only do we lose the fertile females and their mates, but the netters and spearers are disturbing the process and huge amounts of eggs are scattered without being fertilized! See his letter below.

Doug
Douglas Meyenburg, President, PERM

Mille Lacs is fine; spring netting is not
Letters to the Editor Outdoor News April 7, 2017

After reading another article about how the DNR is closing Lake Mille Lacs to keeping any walleyes this summer, I can’t believe it still adheres to the idea that there is no correlation between spring tribal netting and the decline in walleye numbers. With that kind of logic, let’s have a spring deer hunt with hunters only being able to take does carrying fawns.

How can taking the big, egg-filled females out before they can deposit their millions of eggs not have an effect on a lake’s future? They claim by closing the lake to allowing fishermen to keep some walleyes they are somehow helping preserve the spawning class of fish. How many of those spawning class are gonna be taken in Native American nets before they can spawn?

The spring netting needs to stop. Compensate the tribes for not netting and allow the lake to return to how it used to be, naturally. The problem is those in power who don’t know squat about how a lake sustains itself. Mille Lacs doesn’t need anything but time and to be left alone – free of any spring netting – to return to being our premier walleye destination.

Tom Wolak, Foley

DNR can’t have it both ways with Lake Mille Lacs
Letters to the Editor Outdoor News March 31, 2017

What is going on with the DNR and Lake Mille Lacs? The most restrictive regulations, even after summer and winter fishing seasons that clearly proved the lake is full of walleye of all sizes.

After stating that we need a record-low harvest of walleyes because the lake is in "crisis" with only one year-class of small walleyes present in any numbers, DNR Fisheries Chief Don Pereira then states that one reason for the historic restrictions is that fisherman caught much higher numbers of walleye in all sizes than the DNR expected.

Which is it? Record-low walleye numbers with fish in only one size/year-class, or large numbers of walleyes in all sizes? The DNR can’t have it both ways.

The frustrating part is that the DNR had determined a much higher harvest allotment this year than the DNR's "partners" in managing the lake would agree to. These so-called partners get to take fish by net, spear, and hook and line without the same restrictions as the rest of us. My biggest concern is for the hard-working, tax paying business men and women on and around Lake Mille Lacs who will go under this year thanks to the DNR and its partners.

Shameful.

Troy Smutka, Chaska

Ask President for Executive Order to Save Mille Lacs

Given the DNR's new Mille Lacs walleye regulations--and shutdown--for 2017, it might be time to ask the President for an Executive Order to address the situation at Mille Lacs.

The new regulations came out right after my last email, where I first suggested asking for an Executive Order. As I wrote then, "Will this fix the situation at Mille Lacs? It can't hurt. The more emails the President gets only helps our cause."

It's time everyone hunts and fishes under the same rules!

Here is a Sample Message to ask President Donald Trump to sign an Executive Order regarding the Mille Lacs situation. Add your own thoughts to make it personal.

********
The MN DNR's state/tribal "co-management" of 1837 Chippewa Treaty's harvest rights for Mille Lacs has gone from over one million pounds of walleye to a tiny catch-and-release quota race with "hooking mortality." Adding a mid-season shutdown of walleye fishing, which affects all species, further destroys Mille Lacs as Minnesota's premiere walleye angling destination, its local economy, and its property values.

We ask that you sign an Executive Order to honor the 1837 Treaty's original intent and address the technical flaw in the 1850 Presidential Order regarding the 1837 Treaty's tribal harvest rights.
********

Here are some reasons to ask for an Executive Order.
(Adding the whole list below is too large to fit size limits for the Contact the President email.)

Whereas:
* MN Dept. of Natural Resources, Mille Lacs Band, and Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission's co-management of 1837 Treaty harvest rights for Mille Lacs has brought devastation of Mille Lacs as Minnesota's premiere walleye angling destination, its local economy, and property values;

* Mille Lacs walleye harvest has gone from over one million pounds to this year's negligible catch-and-release harvest quota using a poorly-substantiated hooking mortality algorithm and a mid-season shutdown of walleye fishing;

* The co-management of Mille Lacs allows the unsustainable gillnetting of walleye during spawning season; and prohibits that policy from being challenged or researched;

* The co-management of Mille Lacs impacts angling for all other species, further reducing Mille Lacs as an angling destination;

* MN Dept. of Natural Resources has publicly admitted that co-management of Mille Lacs is driven more by politics than biology;

* The Indian Claims Commission paid ALL claims brought by the Chippewa tribes; paying the Mille Lacs Band $3.93 million in 1965; and again paying the Chippewa, including the Mille Lacs Band, $9.02 million in 1973 for claims under the 1837 treaty, including claims for lost hunting and fishing rights (2016 dollar equivalents);

* Minnesotans and the Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa have traditionally maintained good relations since President Zachary Taylor's 1850 revocation order;

* Minnesotans wish to restore such relations with the Mille Lacs Band, as well as Mille Lacs being Minnesota's premiere walleye angling destination and its local economy;

* Chippewa tribes still retain all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of U.S. and State citizenship, in addition to rights acquired under the concept of "tribal sovereignty";

* Minnesota's Gov. Dayton has publicly stated that "I believe that all hunting and fishing in Minnesota should be done under the same rules";

* The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on the existence of treaty harvest rights was based on its determination that President Zachary Taylor's 1850 revocation order was technically flawed;

Therefore:
We ask that you sign an Executive Order to honor the 1837 Treaty's original intent and address the technical flaw in the 1850 Presidential Order regarding the 1837 Treaty's tribal harvest rights.

Will Mille Lacs 2017 Regs Call for a New Presidential Order?

While thinking of soliciting some help with a new effort to restore Mille Lacs as Minnesota’s greatest angling destination, I thought, “Who better than working with the friends of Mille Lacs Lake?” Together we have tried to work with the State of Minnesota and tribal co-managers. We even sued the State of Minnesota. It all fell on deaf ears!

Let’s start something new. Let us start at the top—with a new Presidential Order!

The 1999 Supreme Court’s split decision does not prevent a future Presidential Order. The 1837 Treaty, the Indian Claims Commission, and numerous Congressional actions, taken together, make clear that the original temporary hunting and fishing privileges SHOULD NOT EXIST. We are ALL United States citizens, including American Indians. We must all abide by the same laws.

I ask you to take a few minutes and go to perm.org. On the left of the screen there is a link for contacting President Trump. Click on it and within a few seconds you can send our President your own personal message.

Ask him to sign an Executive Order to replace the technically flawed (according to the 1999 Supreme Court ruling) Presidential Order signed by President Taylor in 1850 that ended harvest rights under the 1837 Treaty with the Chippewa Tribe.

Also ask him to look at the federal government’s failed Federal Indian Policy and do away with this "selective sovereignty". We are all citizens of America subject to the same rights and rules. Will this correct the present situation at Mille Lacs? I don't know. But we have tried so many things over the years. This can't hurt. Whether you voted for Trump or not is really not relevant. If he chooses to help, we will ALL benefit. While on the PERM website sign up for our email updates if you aren’t getting them. (We won't share your email addresses.) The more emails the President gets only helps our cause. Make Mille Lacs Great Again!

Doug
Douglas Meyenburg, President PERM

Mille Lacs 'catch and release'—again
Doug Meyenburg comments after MLFAC meeting

Isle, February 15, 2017—Last night, while attending the Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee Meeting, I heard the head of DNR Fisheries Don Pereira announce to the committee and public in attendance that Mille Lacs again will be catch and release for the 2017 open water season.

This reg comes after last summer’s hot bite, and this winter’s catch being on fire? (Just look at the pictures on resorters’ websites.)

Pereira pointed out that negotiations with the tribes weren't going very well because they are mad about non-tribal anglers going over our 2016 quota. We must remember that 2016 regulations were catch and release only, so quotas are made-up hooking mortality numbers. NOT ONE fish was allowed to be harvested by non-tribal anglers.

Pereira admitted that the issues are political and not being made with biology as the determining factor. My question would be "will 2017 regs be a kiss and make up year"?

The DNR pointed out that there is a spike in angler activity in the last few weeks of July, which boosts hooking mortality. But this is discounted by most people on the Committee as they are on the lake daily and don't see enough boats. For example, one Committee member who sells live bait said that the day after the 4th of July weekend his sales of live bait dropped like a box of rocks. So where does the DNR get these numbers?

Governor Mark Dayton ordered stocking in Mille Lacs last year. But the DNR team last night admitted it is only being used for research data and not to add fish to the lake. I sit there representing PERM as an observer wondering how these resorters and other business people are going to make it. Their deep-rooted livelihoods are at stake. So many of these people have become good friends and it pains me to see this happening to them in the name of politics.

Is this the end of the story? NO. The 1855 Treaty is now being disputed in the Crow Wing County court. The 1855 Treaty ceded territory includes Mille Lacs Lake, the Brainerd Lakes area, Winni, Leech, Lake Bemidji, and everything in between. If history holds true, some federal judge will give the White Earth tribe the same harvest rights as Mille Lacs tribe has. The map of 1855 treaty area is at perm.org. Look it up.

Now is the time to stand up for the Mille Lacs area and the state of Minnesota. Tribal co-management is not working. The Governor and MN DNR are responsible for the natural resources being regulated for all citizens. But it looks like the tail is wagging the dog.

Please take the time to share this email. Then contact Governor Dayton, DNR Commissioner Landwehr, and your House and Senate members and ask them to take the action required to iron this mess out.

Mille Lacs advisory committee meets Feb. 15
PERM members encouraged to attend

The Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee will meet from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15, at McQuoid’s Inn, 1325 State Highway 47 in Isle. DNR staff will provide a report-out from January’s Fisheries Technical Committee meeting, and preliminary results of last summer’s hooking mortality study. Members of the public are welcome to attend and observe these meetings, and 15 minutes at the end of each meeting is reserved for public comments and questions.

Fellegy: Endless storm batters Mille Lacs sport fishery
Tribes ask Governor to disband MLFAC

Joe Fellegy, in his Friday, November 4 Outdoor News commentary called state-tribal co-management of Mille Lacs a "destructive gale." It was a storm that "rips at the sport fishing community, with no end in sight."

He stated that it is "no surprise that angler numbers and hours fell to all-time lows" after facing a super-low walleye quota, no keeping, and a night-fishing ban. This "maximum conservation" still wasn't enough he according to Fellegy. "So, clobber anglers and suffering businesses with fuzzy guesstimated walleye 'hooking mortality' assessments to drive 'em over the unscientific low quota, and hit 'em with a Sept. 6 complete shutdown."

The resignation of Jamie Edwards, Mille Lacs Band representative, from the DNR's 17-member Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee added to the ongoing PR disaster. His resignation letter to DNR's Tom Landwehr and copied to Gov. Dayton brought unfair negative press for Mille Lacs and for MLFAC. It smeared the MLFAC as "anti-science and anti-tribal."

Fellegy found even bigger news. "Unreported by state officials, even to MLFAC leadership: letters from tribal officials asking Gov. Dayton to disband MLFAC!"

Fellegy attended all MLFAC meetings over the past year. He "heard no anti-Indian comments from members." He pointed out "Mr. Edwards was rarely present and faced no flak." Fellegy then asked, "Minnesota’s DNR formed MLFAC for input on the state's side of co-management. Why should any tribal officials be on that committee, especially after their disband-MLFAC requests?"

Especially galling for Fellegy was how the DNR minimized its Sept. 6 shutdown with the line that Mille Lacs has "minimal fall fishing and business." Actually, "Mille Lacs ranked as one of Minnesota's top fall-fishing draws," according to Fellegy. Fellegy defended MLFAC's describing the gillnetting of game fish, especially during the spawn, as culturally "offensive to most Minnesotans." He called out the "misplayed race card" that too often "shuts down discussion and debate of tribal-related policymaking." Fellegy also called out the media for "defending and insulating the unjustifiable co-management system and its impacts."

Disgusted with trial moose hunts

Outdoor News, November 4, 2016
The beleaguered Minnesota moose population is suffering another blow this fall thanks to hunts by the Fond du Lac Lake Superior, Bois Forte and Grand Portage bands of Chippewa Indians. This travesty will result in 38 animals killed. Justification for the hunts has generally been, "It won't biologically threaten the moose herd." If this is true, then why is the hunting exclusive to Native Americans?

Minnesota is a fair and open society based on freedom and equality, right? According to the 2015 U.S. Census, American Indians account for 1.3 percent of the population in Minnesota... So shouldn't they be allowed just 1.3 percent of the moose hunted? This year, the bands should have been allowed to kill just one moose and the remaining 37 should have gone to the other 98.7 percent of Minnesotans.

Until things change, any freedom (-and moose-) loving Minnesotans who spend their money at the Black Bear, Fond-Du-Luth, Fortune Bay and Grand Portage casinos need to have their heads examined!

Mark Schoess
Stacy

Chippewa tribes renew hunting of Minnesota moose
Against DNR wishes, the Fond du Lac Band has killed 25 moose already; plans are to harvest 38

October 19, 2016
A three-year hunting reprieve for Minnesota's struggling moose population has come to an end this fall. Shooting of 38 bulls by three Chippewa Indian tribes is planned. Twenty-five of those moose already have been killed by members of the Fond du Lac Band. The DNR urged the Band not to authorize a moose hunt, but the tribe chose to exercise its sovereign hunting and fishing rights.

The targeting of moose in 2016 ends a three-year period when state and tribal game managers stopped moose hunting in the face of an alarming population decline. From a peak of 8,840 moose surveyed in 2006, the DNR now estimates the population to be under 4,000 animals.

Now the cultural importance of a subsistence moose hunt overrides public sensitivities. That's because game managers now believe the state’s moose population has stabilized, adult moose mortality is low and calf survival is "reasonable."

DNR reverses under Indian pressure

Dave Orrick in the Pioneer Press commented on the closure of walleye fishing on Mille Lacs. He had questions about state leadership, as did Joe Fellegy. (PERM summary of Fellegy article and Fellegy Outdoor News article.)

The DNR and Dayton had said walleye fishing would remain open, in “an apparent violation of treaty protocols.” Last year the DNR closed fishing in early August when the kill limit was reached. This year Governor Dayton said the season would stay open, even after the hooking mortality “harvest” was more than 50% over the quota.

Then Gov. Dayton announced a closure would come on September 6th.

The DNR may have tried to signal a post-quota walleye season by saying earlier this month that they “believed the increased hooking mortality was actually not harming the lake’s walleye population.” This came after pre-season warnings of a “fairly high probability” of closure by August 1 if live bait use wasn’t banned. It was banned--but then restored “after local businesses objected.”

Reversal of the walleye season extension came, in turn, after strong pushback by the Mille Lacs band. Their response included the possibility of lawsuits. The tribe was said to be “displeased” with the walleye season remaining open after the quota was reached. What about all the anglers, resort owners, and taxpayers being a little bit displeased?

Dayton took credit for keeping the walleye season open through Labor Day, after which fishing pressure (and hooking mortality) slows down. Unfortunately, Dayton could take all the credit since the Mille Lacs Fishery Advisory Committee only knew about the closure when it was announced at their last meeting.

It might help if it’s remembered that the State is ultimately responsible for managing all the natural resources in Minnesota.

Doug
Douglas Meyenburg, President PERM

Politics at work: Mille Lacs walleye shutdown

By Steve Johnson, Johnsons Portside 8/23/2016
Youtube 2:13

Walleye fishing on Mille Lacs to close September 6

August 23 | Onmia DNR Fisheries Chief Don Pereira announced tonight that walleye fishing on Mille Lacs will close September 6. He made the announcement at the Fishery Advisory Committee meeting being held at Izatys Resort in Onamia.

This reversal comes shortly after Governor Dayton reversed the DNR's closure that was tied to hooking mortality reaching (surpassing) the 2016 walleye harvest quota.

Wonder if the Governor is actually calling the shots. Or is he bowing to behind-the-scenes pressure beyond the DNR?

Expect to be reading a lot more in the papers and on the news tomorrow.

Doug
Douglas Meyenburg, President

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Douglas Meyenburg, President

Mille Lacs Walleye season remains open!
Fishery Advisory Committee points the way

St Paul | August 10, 2016 Governor Dayton has announced that the Mille Lacs walleye fishery will remain open even though the harvest quota has been reached for the season. He said closure "would devastate area businesses and communities." Tribal leaders were asked for their "understanding and forbearance" in the matter.

The Mille Lacs Fishery Advisory Committee helped point the DNR and Governor in the right direction.

DNR reps at Committee meetings initially rejected looking at "socio-economic factors" in making resource management plans. Later it was pointed out that the Committee's charge included their consideration.

That's important because looking at economic loss in the Mille Lacs community wasn't considered a part of "co-management." The DNR only looked at things like lake biology, slot limits, and hooking mortality. That's not the whole picture.

This year the entire harvest was from "hooking mortality." Local professionals say the formula the DNR uses to assess hooking mortality is severely flawed. For example, do all boats on Mille Lacs get included in scoring hooking mortality? (DNR counts the number of boats times a predetermined number of fish per boat.) Many anglers on Mille Lacs are targeting Muskies and Bass! Not every trailer on shore belongs to an angler. Some are pleasure boats. But this formula would have meant the end of walleye fishing for the season if not for Gov. Dayton's weighing in.

Will socio-economic factors be part of co-management going forward? Let's hope so. Even the DNR's latest press release mentions taking "socio-economic factors into consideration" and preventing "significant economic loss in the Mille Lacs community."

We must remember that ultimately the State of MN is responsible for ALL natural resources within the state's boundary. These MUST be managed for all citizens.

Doug

Douglas Meyenburg,
President, PERM

Off-reservation (non-Mille Lacs) tribal walleye harvest mostly light

August 6, 2016 -- Reduced walleye harvest on Mille Lacs had bands in the 1837 Treaty ceded territory moving walleye harvest activity to other lakes. Last winter, the bands declared their intentions to exercise their off-reservation treaty harvest rights on 73 lakes. Only 10 of these lakes saw any harvest activity, either netting or spearing. These were:

Chisago Lake (Chisago County) – 67 pounds – 21% of quota
Green Lake (Chisago) – 513 pounds – 78% of quota
Rush Lake (Chisago) – 42 pounds – 4% of quota
South Long Lake (Crow Wing) – 245 pounds – 44% of quota
Platte Lake (Crow Wing) – 48 pounds – 7% of quota
Blue Lake (Isanti) – No harvest
Spectacle Lake (Isanti) – 35 pounds – 37 % of quota
Knife Lake (Kanabec) – 7 pounds – 2% of quota
Sullivan Lake (Morrison) – 15 pounds –3% of quota
Pokegama Lake (Pine) – No harvest

All fish are counted by tribal officials. Non-tribal harvest is assumed to be under the quotas. Tribal anglers must get a permit each day they fish. They must declare which lake they wish to fish that day. Access is from designated boat landings that have monitoring. Spearers are limited to fish under 20 inches, with one between 20 and 24 inches, and one of any size.

Are you concerned about:

* DNR’s co-management of Mille Lacs?

* Claims for expanded Mille Lacs “reservation” with expanded tribal law enforcement authority?

* An 1855 Treaty lawsuit?
It’s underway! DNR could end up co-managing off-reservation hunting, fishing, gathering—and “property rights”—in 1855 Treaty ceded territory. Lakes include Gull, Long, Whitefish, Cross, Leech, Cass, Pokegama, and Winnie. The 1855 ceded area includes Mille Lacs! See map.

Join Us! Donate Today

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All donations are tax deductible

Mille Lacs advisory committee meets July 19

The Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee will meet from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 19, at the Garrison City Hall, 27069 Central St. in Garrison. Discussion at the July meeting will include updates on the ongoing hooking mortality study, and the 2016 open water creel results thus far. Members of the public are welcome to attend and observe these meetings, and 15 minutes at the end of each meeting is reserved for public comments and questions. The advisory committee of citizens has been active since October 2015. For more information about the committee and DNR’s management of Mille Lacs Lake, visit the Mille Lacs Lake management page. To sign up to receive these email updates, click on "Newsletter" on the left menu and enter your email in the blue box on the page.

Lake Mille Lacs stocking deserves history lesson

Here is an insider’s view of the DNR’s unwarranted bias for keeping a pure "Mille Lacs walleye" strain that’s held up restocking as a management tool. (And how much of requiring only Mille Lacs walleye eggs as a work-around is a driver for getting a $3.2 million hatchery at the lake?)

Doug Meyenburg

From Outdoor News Letters June 24, 2016

The adage, "What goes around comes around," can certainly be applied to the recent, last-ditch effort by the DNR--that of stocking walleyes in Lake Mille Lacs.

The culture of anti-stocking of walleyes began in 1990, beginning with the no cross-watershed--"keep the walleye genome pure"--dogma. After 1990, the DNR's anti-stocking culture and its "new stocking policy" unnecessarily left un-harvested walleyes to die in rearing ponds because I, as an employee, couldn't exceed the stocking quota. To me, the DNR's recent Mille Lacs stocking is laughable.

Except for his research staff, DNR Fisheries Chief Don Pereira should unplug the computers of his fish managers. Modeling fish populations in the office is fun, but not reality. The people of Minnesota own the fish, not the DNR. Therefore, fisheries specialists need to leave their world of virtual fish management and better engage the public on their turf--but not at choreographed public meetings.

The true mission of the DNR is: "We will work with the people of Minnesota to manage the state's resources." It is not: "We will manage the resources for the people of Minnesota." As a result, we seem to have a public agency that already knows what's right for us.

David G. Holmbeck
Grand Rapids

Editor's note: Holmbeck is a former DNR employee.

Mille Lacs County revokes law enforcement agreement with Mille Lacs Band

The Mille Lacs County Board on June 21 revoked the last Cooperative Agreement it entered into with the Mille Lacs Band in 2008.

For 25 years an agreement between the County and the Band allowed for joint law enforcement without having to address disputed boundaries.

Now the Mille Lacs Band's revival of the dispute over the existence of a 61,000-acre reservation "made it clear that tribal government prioritized tribal law over and above Minnesota law and its cooperative relationship with Mille Lacs County." The County was left with revocation as the only way it could "uphold the integrity of state law."

The Tribal Police Department will continue to exist, but will no longer have the powers of a state law enforcement agency in the disputed territory unless a new cooperative agreement is reached.

The County believes the reservation was disestablished and replaced with trust land. The band believes the reservation still exists and covers the entire 61,000 acres. Disputed land includes cities of Isle and Wahkon; Kathio State Park; Father Hennepin State Park; the Bayview community; and the entire southern shoreline of Lake Mille Lacs. Many citizens with no affiliation to the Mille Lacs Band own property and live within this area.

If the old reservation could be shown to still exist, the Mille Lacs Band would likely assert jurisdiction over all of the reservation, including non-Band members. Instead, Mille Lacs County Sheriff Brent Lindgren believes County residents "are entitled to the protections of Minnesota law."

"While it is a rejection of the Band’s unwillingness to follow state law, it is not a rejection of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe," according to Pat Oman, County Administrator. "The county will continue to work with the Band toward establishing a true partnership in law enforcement."

Sheriff Lindgren also stands "ready to put together a new cooperative agreement that respects that compromise" of the one just revoked.


Mille Lacs gut piles show destructive capacity of gill netting	Some fish are discarded whole