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| Scanlan: Lac du Flambeau: Power to protect reservation waters a benefit to all |  Email this page  Print this page |
| Posted: February 17, 2006 |
| by: Melissa Scanlan |
 |
Last
October, the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
took a small but important step toward responsibly managing its
water-rich reservation in northern Wisconsin. The band requested that
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant it the authority to
develop standards for the lakes, rivers and wetlands on the
reservation.
It makes sense that water is so integral to the economic
livelihood, culture and spirit of the Lac du Flambeau Band. With 260
lakes, 71 miles of streams and rivers, and 24,000 acres of wetlands,
about half of the surface area of the reservation is water. Traditional
fishing activities, as well as subsistence hunting and wild-rice
gathering, are vitally dependent on the quality of their water. In
fact, the name Lac du Flambeau - meaning ''Lake of the Torches'' -
reflects the water-rich culture of the people.
Given the importance of water to its survival, it is no
surprise that the band is working to develop standards to protect
reservation waters. What may be a surprise, however, is that currently
these reservation waters fall into a regulatory void. Outside the
reservation, the state of Wisconsin has been approved by the EPA to set
standards to protect state waters. Inside the reservation, the Lac du
Flambeau is seeking a similar approval from the EPA.
The interconnected waters of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation
are shared by everyone, including the non-tribal members who comprise
40 percent of the population there. The problem is that absent the
EPA's approval, the band only has authority over the activities of its
members, not the non-Native businesses and residents living within the
reservation. The practical result on the reservation is that there are
effectively no standards in place to protect these valuable
interconnected waters.
If the EPA approves the band's ability to protect its waters,
the band will then be able to develop standards to protect reservation
waters - not waters off of the reservation. And due to the flowing
nature of water, improvements to reservation waters will only send
cleaner water to downstream users off the reservation. In a clean
water-dependent economy like that of northern Wisconsin, this can only
be seen as a gift to the band's neighbors.
The bottom line is that what the Lac du Flambeau Band is
seeking is eminently reasonable, fair and protective of the vulnerable
waters we all share. We should send letters of support to Todd Ambs at
the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Melissa K. Scanlan is the executive director of, and Andrew
Hanson is a staff attorney for, Midwest Environmental Advocates, a
nonprofit environmental law center working for clean air, clean water
and a clean government. |
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