I couldn’t agree more with Dennis Anderson’s opinion piece:
“Gov. Mark Dayton can be forgiven if he chooses not to help Mille Lacs area residents and business owners any further during his final 18 months in office.”
Let’s not forget that Dayton ordered fishing to remain open last year to try to help the resorts. He also signed a bill that offered some economic support. One year later there’s a protest from at least some of the same people he tried to help, when he’s there trying to help them again.
It seems to me that resorts and anglers are going to have to accept that the treaty is a valid contract as to tribal fishing rights. Unless or until this happens, it’s a rural MN version of Israel and Palestine fighting over walleyes instead of land. And people on the outside will never understand it.
It would also help if the resorts coordinated a little better so that they weren’t fighting among themselves. Angry, fragmented groups always have a hard time.
If a large majority of the resorts and locals established a formal organization, which established an alliance with the tribe, and then negotiated among themselves to reach a single position the two groups would present to the state … that might be a powerful voice.
On the other hand, I mostly C&R and I’ve never had more fun on the lake than I’ve had over the past three years. I’m not keeping their lights on, but I’ve made a couple of trips to the Red Door because of it. Maybe I’ll check out Fisher’s next time.
