Road closures could return if Town of Lac du Flambeau fails to pay tribal permits

The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa will return to restricting access to roads crossing tribal lands if a northern Wisconsin town does not pay overdue permit fees, according to a letter from tribal leadership.

In a letter sent Tuesday, Tribal President John Johnson Sr. notified the town of Lac du Flambeau’s chair and town board that the tribe now considered them to be in default of a May 2023 agreement allowing the use of four roads involved in a long-standing dispute.

The letter said the town has until Aug. 23 to pay outstanding fees, and that “failure to pay will result in restricted access” to Elsie Lake Lane, Center Sugarbush Lane, East Ross Allen Lake Lane and Annie Sunn Lane.

Tribal officials first put up barricades on the roads in January 2023 after negotiations failed between the tribe, the town and title companies over expired easements. The barricades were removed in March that year, when the town began paying a monthly permit fee to the tribe to maintain road access for nontribal residents.

But town officials say they no longer have funds to make the monthly payments. Last Friday, the town board voted to notify the tribe of the situation in writing. Town Board Chair Matt Gaulke said in the special meeting that the town had been using funds from its road construction budget, but the budget line was “in the red.”

Gaulke said last week that he planned to invite the tribe, Gov. Tony Evers and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to a special town meeting on Aug. 23 to attempt to resolve the dispute.

Gaulke could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Araia Breedlove, Lac du Flambeau tribal public relations contact, said Johnson sent the letter in response to the town’s meeting. She said town officials have had more than a year to consider the permit agreements and “have not come up with an effective solution.”

Breedlove said the tribe has made their demands clear and the town has been unresponsive.

“So moving forward, we are going to just let the United States government handle it,” she said.

The federal government sued the town for trespassing last year on behalf of the tribe. Both the town of Lac du Flambeau and homeowners have filed separate federal lawsuits against the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Breedlove said Johnson had not been notified of or invited to a special meeting with the town on Aug. 23.

Some residents affected by the ongoing dispute say they’re frustrated by the lack of progress toward a resolution. Denny Pearson, who lives on East Ross Allen Lake Lane, said he believes the issue could be resolved if the involved parties would come together.

“If the road gets shut down in August, both my wife Rachel and I run the real risk of losing our jobs,” he said. “I manage a manufacturing facility; I have to be here. And I have no recourse if the tribe causes me to lose my job by shutting the road down.”

Pearson said he doesn’t blame the tribe or the town, but views the issue as a “joint problem” with the federal government. He said the tribe needs to be respected as a sovereign nation. But he also expressed skepticism about the issue requiring “millions and millions of dollars” to be resolved.

In December, the tribe sought $10 million in damages for what it said was trespassing by the town. The town proposed a $1.8 million settlement in July to resolve the dispute, but town leaders said the tribe rejected their offer.