Superior National Forest and northern Minnesota tribes make 'historic' agreement

DULUTH - The Superior National Forest and three northeastern Minnesota Chippewa tribes have made a first-of-its-kind agreement, one that gives the tribes a stronger voice in managing national forest and federal trust land that was ceded to the federal government nearly 170 years ago.

The Fond du Lac and Grand Portage bands of Lake Superior Chippewa and the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa signed an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service recently to protect the bands' treaty rights within the Superior National Forest.

Bois Forte Chair Cathy Chavers called the agreement "historic," with three bands within the 1854 Treaty boundaries coming together as one to protect natural resources. Area Chippewa ceded land to the United States in 1854 in exchange for hunting, fishing and gathering rights in northeastern Minnesota.

https://www.startribune.com/superior-national-forest-and-northern-minnesota-tribes-make-historic-agreement/600275081/