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Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe’s right
to self-determination

The Leech Lake Environmental/Land Department is working towards strengthening the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe’s right to self-determination. There are many ways that this goal can be accomplished, none more important than the ability to govern one’s lands and environment.

Recently, the Band has forged relationships with the U.S. Forest Service and Cass County; these types of relationships help affirm the Environmental/Land Department’s role as it pertains to the land and the environment within the exterior boundaries of the reservation and the 1855 treaty area.  In the summer of 2013 the Band and the Chippewa National Forest signed into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which would help the new administration continue to build upon past successes and move forward in protecting tribal resources and rights. The Environmental/Land Department has been very successful in ensuring that the Band’s interests and rights are prominent when the U.S. Forest service is proposing projects that may impact the Band.

On other issues, such as Land Use and Fee-to-Trust applications, the Environmental/Land office has met with Cass County representatives and commissioners, which has led to the county repealing their previous opposition of Leech Lake’s Fee-to-Trust applications. Also going forward there will be bi-annual meetings between Environmental/Land staff and County Commissioners to discuss the future of land use goals of both governments.

These types of government to government relations are a sign of the strength and capacity of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Environmental/Land office.

The Environmental/Land Department is actively defending the Band’s regulatory authority and jurisdictional borders which will ensure future generations will be able to define what kind of environment they want. The capabilities of any tribal governmental agency lies with the staff and their capacity to work with complex issues while still ensuring that tribal rights and a tribe’s right to self-governance is protected. The Environmental/Land Department has been successful in enforcing tribal laws and regulatory authority over non-tribal entities within the reservation boundaries. Companies such as International Paper Corporation, Enbridge Inc. and other smaller non-tribal entities have all been subject to tribal law and regulatory authority.

Why is this important?  Because a government’s integrity and capability to govern can be measured by how well its laws are enforced and its ability to enforce those rules on activities within its jurisdictional boundaries.

Division of Resource Management
(218) 335-7400