Iron Mine Conflicts With Tribal Law, Legal Expert Says
Thanks to blogger Mike Leon for gathering this expert opinion at MAL Contends for this newsy update:
Indian Treaty Law Expert: Adverse Effect on Treaty-protected Species Dooms Mine
Charles F. Wilkinson, arguably the leading legal expert on native American treaties who literally wrote the book on Federal Indian Case Law, and wrote and edited numerous other treatises on federal Native American law, offered his comments on the Lac Courte Oreilles' efforts to halt the proposed Gogebic Taconite mine in an e-mail received moments ago.
Madison liberals are so silly. Open pit Iron mines are not open to hunting or gathering rights. Once the land is taken out of managed forest status, it is no longer included in the area that the Indians can hunt or fish on.
ReplyDeleteTo Anon: I don't see anything in the treaties that puts such a process into motion. All that forest land you reference was given (ceded) to the what became the state, so is included in the treaties which guaranteed access, n exchange, in perpetuity.
ReplyDeleteThere's no opt-out for mines,