Feds and White Earth Nation sign agreement on Minnesota’s Tamarac refuge

Rochert, Minn. — An agreement signed June 4 by officials from White Earth Nation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service addresses issues from water levels on the water bodies of Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge to uses – from wild ricing to hunting and fishing – of the 42,500-acre refuge by White Earth band members.

Notably, it includes no discussion of land transfer.

“We’ve been working with the tribe on conservation on the refuge for a long, long time,” said Kent Sundseth, Tamarac refuge manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “This formalizes our existing relationship.”

Approximately 50% of the northwestern Minnesota refuge lies within the White Earth reservation, as defined in an 1867 treaty. Per that treaty, according to the USFWS, “the band holds ricing and trapping rights throughout the entirety of the refuge …”

Sundseth said the Memorandum of Agreement signed last week won’t limit state-licensed hunter, fisher, or gatherer activities. It will, however, simplify the permitting process for tribal members taking part in refuge-related activities. In the past, members were required two permits (federal and tribal) for some activities.

MORE COVERAGE FROM OUTDOOR NEWS:

Huge trap shooting championship kicks off in Alexandria, Minnesota

Commentary: Illinois biologist says investments on Upper Mississippi River should have fish ‘jumping for joy’

Minnesota DNR fire teams stay on alert during the spring season

According to the agreement, “the USFWS will collaborate with WEDNR (the White Earth DNR) to harmonize the band’s conservation code with the refuge’s permitting requirements and minimize the instances in which band members are required to obtain federal special use permits for ricing, trapping, leeching and turtling, minnowing, wood cutting, plant gathering, and ceremonies. The USFWS will recognize permits issued by the band to band members within the entirety of the refuge for ricing, trapping, wood cutting, plant gathering, and ceremonies.”

Given the importance of rice harvest to tribal members, the agreement states the band’s wild rice manager, during the summer season and into fall, “will visit the refuge and make observations regarding water levels in wild rice water bodies impacted by refuge water-control structures.” The White Earth wild rice manager provides the refuge manager with “recommended changes or modifications to water levels” via the water-control structures, of which there are 11 on the Tamarac refuge.

In this arena, too, Sundseth said he foresees little change, given that wild rice is a “shared, common conservation goal.”

According to the USFWS’s Tamarac refuge web page, discussions regarding the MOA began last September, and final draft of the agreement was completed in May.

Sundseth said such agreements between government entities aren’t required to offer public input. The agreement was signed June 4 at a gathering in Mahnomen. Those signing the document were White Earth chairman Michael Fairbanks and Will Meeks, Midwest regional director for the USFWS.

According to the website, “Staff from Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge and White Earth Nation have worked together for decades on common natural resource goals. Following a recent request from White Earth Nation to transfer lands of the refuge to tribal ownership, there was discussion regarding how we could work together more effectively.”

And further, “The memorandum of agreement does not transfer any refuge lands or change public access to the refuge. Instead, the agreement focuses on how we collaborate and coordinate with White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe to permit ongoing tribal citizen harvest activities and natural resources department scientific activities on the refuge.”

A story from Minnesota Public Radio News following the document signing indicated White Earth leadership intends to continue a push to transfer land ownership of at least the reservation portion of the refuge to the White Earth Band.

“Fairbanks called this memorandum of agreement a first step in what he expects will be a long process. His ultimate goal is to have the refuge land returned to the White Earth Nation,” according to MPR News.

A year ago, a portion of the refuge – the northern unit within reservation boundaries – was closed to early-season teal hunters to protect wild rice beds and ricers, according to officials. Sundseth said a decision on if such a closure would occur was yet to be determined.

The MOA suggests that additional agreements, too, could be in the works, including “to discuss further the compatibility of maple syrup and commercial bough harvest” by tribal members.

Also, USFWS and tribal leaders agreed, per the MOA, “to immediately begin negotiations for co-stewardship agreements,” in accordance with a federal order established in 2021.

The Tamarac refuge was established in 1938 to serve as a breeding ground and sanctuary for migratory birds and wildlife, its website states.

“This is a location where eastern deciduous hardwoods, northern coniferous forests, and western tallgrass prairies converge to create a rich assemblage of both plants and animals,” the website states. “It is estimated that more than 50,000 visitors come to the refuge each year to recreate and experience the lakes, rivers, forests and wildlife each year.