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State Sen. Mary Kunesh, DFL-New Brighton, and Rep. Aisha Gomez, DFL-Minneapolis, are sponsoring legislation to transfer state-owned land from the 160,000-acre White Earth State Forest to the White Earth Nation by the end of the decade.

The proposed legislation would also give the White Earth Nation the right of first refusal on the sale of any tax-forfeited land that comes up for sale within the forest.

Kunesh says the intent of the bill is to honor the sovereignty of the White Earth Nation. Most of the White Earth State Forest is located within the White Earth reservation.

“It is in essence a reparation, but what makes a difference is that these are tribal lands, already designated by the federal government, by the state government,” said Kunesh. “These are already recognized tribal lands.”

“It’s about the ability to exercise their sovereign rights and the management of their lands,” said Kunesh.

The White Earth reservation was established by treaty between the Mississippi Band of Chippewa and the U.S. government in 1867 and totals over 800,000 acres. It is one of seven Anishinaabe tribal nations in Minnesota.

In the late 1880s, reservations nationwide were allotted into individual parcels. A few years later, legislation passed in Minnesota that attempted to concentrate all Anishinaabe people on the White Earth reservation and issue individuals privately owned allotments of land.

That legislation would be the beginning of a pattern of laws that would transfer timber and land from tribal members to non-tribal members, a history resulting in a patchwork of tribal, county, public and private ownership that exists across the 800,000-plus acre reservation today.

Managed by the Minnesota DNR, the White Earth State Forest was created by state legislators in the early 1940s. The forest is open for recreation and contains 65 miles of forest roads and 70 miles of snowmobile trails.

Republican Steve Green represents Senate District 2 at the Minnesota legislature. The district covers a large part of north central Minnesota.

Green, who is an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation, said in a statement on social media that there is concern across his district about the proposed land transfer.

“This should be troubling to everyone because of the potential harm this may cause down the line,” said Green. “We are setting a bad precedent. I also worry about the division this could cause in our local area.”

The land transfer proposal experienced swift pushback from one of the counties that shares a geography with both the state forest and the White Earth Nation. About one-third of the state forest is in Becker County.

The Becker County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution in opposition to the transfer of tax-forfeited lands to the tribe.

The county co-manages tax-forfeited lands within the state forest under an agreement with the Minnesota DNR.

Becker County Commissioner Barry Nelson said he believes the county would lose revenue if the park land were transferred to the tribe. “There’s so many red flags on this thing, it’s just mindboggling.”

Nelson also expressed concern the area around the state forest would miss out on revenue generated by tourism if the forest were closed to non-tribal members.

White Earth Reservation Business Committee Chairman Michael Fairbanks stated told MPR News that if the land is transferred to White Earth, “Nothing's going to change... We’re not going to close.”

In a statement released Tuesday, the White Earth Nation says it intends for public access in the forest to continue, “…balanced with conservation, restoration, and stewardship goals — a model common in state and federal parks and forests.”

Fairbanks says stewardship of the forest and lakes throughout the reservation is a priority for the tribe.

“One of the things that I always talk about is us protecting our resources, not only for my generations, our generations, but all Minnesota generations,” said Fairbanks. “So, we can always have this beauty and protect what we have left.”

The legislation to transfer the White Earth State Forest land from the state to the White Earth Nation is scheduled for a hearing at the capitol on Thursday.

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State Sen. Mary Kunesh, DFL-New Brighton, and Rep. Aisha Gomez, DFL-Minneapolis, introduced a bill in February that proposes transferring state-owned land within the 160,000-acre White Earth State Forest to the tribe by 2029.

Signs welcome visitors to White Earth, on the White Earth Reservation.

Ann Arbor Miller for MPR News | 2017

Ben Hovland | MPR News

Person speaks into mic with symbol behind

Legislative proposal would transfer a Minnesota state forest to the White Earth Nation

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