ARGU - PARR News Paper

VOLUME 4 NUMBER 5 FALL-WINTER 1999

The Only Printed Voice of opposition to Federal Government Indian Policy in Wisconsin.
Published by Protect Americans' Rights & Resources to maintain an informed membership.

Like Ponce de Leon's search for the fountain of youth, the board of The Corporation Lac du Flambeau a.k.a. (Tribal Government) is committed to its dedicated search for the fountain of money. Too bad the object of both their searches is mythical. In Ponce de Leon's case the fountain of youth did not exist, and in the LDF board's case a Southeastern Wisconsin casino most likely will never exist. As a corporation the Lac du Flambeau have spread too much charm for any community to ever embrace them.

The Lac du Flambeau's History Of In Your Face Arrogance
plagues their effort to get approval for a casino site in Southeastern Wisconsin.
(By Bob Manzke)   The Lac du Flambeau's search for a casino site has become a real comedy, with Chairman of the Board Tom Maulson, calling some of the officials of counties, which they have been kicked out of, racist. Obviously the Lac du Flambeau's code of operation, which treats their neighbors like dog-do-do, while hiding behind treaty rights has caught up with them. I doubt if any community will invite the Lac du Flambeau into a business deal after the ridiculous, physically impossible to full, spearing quotas on premiere lakes. We know this same quota fiasco will take place, each spring, just like we know the change of the seasons will take place. The obvious reason for this quota scam is to establish a set of conditions where more money can be extorted from the state. They (the Lac du Flambeau) probably consider themselves pretty slick by their clever use of treaty rights.
   Problem is, none of the communities in the more populated areas want to do business with Joe Slick. Consider the quotas gimmick, plus the long list of irritating actions by the Lac du Flambeau, employed to flaunt their treaty rights with in your face arrogance. This no doubt has become one of the determining factors in refusing access to the Lac du Flambeau in every community they have attempted to move into so far. I am sure the officials of the communities involved have done their homework. They have probably looked at things like the defaulting of several government financed businesses on the reservation. The Simpson Electric de-faults on a government loan being the most flagrant.
   Let's begin the never-ending saga of one arrogant Indian Corporation's rude awakening to the fact that their tactics are only acceptable on the reservation, and treaty rights are very limited. June 8-New Berlin-Waukesha County… 21 days after New Berlin Mayor James Gatzke and five staff members, had been wined and dined by the Lac du Flambeau, Gatzke issued the following statement. "Recently an overwhelming majority of the people who have contacted me or my office have opposed gambling in this community regardless of the economic benefits." Getzke said, "While I have stated publicly that we would wait until such time as we had all the information before I would allow citizens to make this decision." The citizens of New Berlin in essence have shown the Lac du Flambeau the door. And according to Waukesha County Board Chairman James Dwyer, there was a 5 to 0 vote by the Executive Committee not to proceed on the gambling matter. This action gave the Lac du Flambeau the boot out of Waukesha County.
   Consider the following whine comments: "I really begin to wonder with Waukesha County as conservative as it is, if there isn't just a little racism at work here." That was comment 1. Comment 2 was to blame the church-based group, Casino Free Waukesha, for " whipping the citizens into frenzy." Sure didn't take long for race card to be played, and blame some opposition group for their shortcomings.
   Fast forward to July 7… Johnson Creek, Jefferson County…Over 500 people showed up at a public hearing on The Lac du Flambeau's proposal to build a multi-million-dollar casino in Johnson Creek. The local media reference, to the reception of the proposal as rough, was a classic understatement. About 100 people signed up to speak for two minutes each. One man asked casino opponents to stand up, and over ¾ of the people present stood and applauded. Tom Maulson, Lac du Flambeau tribal chairman, said he was not surprised by the overwhelming negative reaction to the tribe's plan. "We expected it. We've seen these types of groups rear their ugly heads before." We really don't know if it was Maulson's elitism, or the fact that the good people of Jefferson County did their homework that got Maulson and company booted out of Jefferson County. It really doesn't make any difference, because they were sent packing.
   Sheboygan - After listening to the Lac du Flambeau Chippewa tribal leader talk about plans for a $40 million floating casino on the Sheboygan River, city officials agreed to decide on whether to continue discussions with the tribe. About 45 residents attended the meeting, but they were not allowed to speak. Maulson said the tribe would buy a 300- by 86-foot gambling boat with about 1,200 slot machines if the plan were approved. Dick Matty, a spokesman for the tribe, said the boat would cost about $40 million. The complex would be on a 40-acre peninsula between the Sheboygan River and Lake Michigan. Gambling would take place only on the boat, which would be permanently docked in the river next to the other facilities. We don't know if it is Maulson's elitism or the fact that the Sheboygan officials did their homework, that convinced Sheboygan to torpedo the gambling boat, but torpedo they did. So with their boat sunk and the peninsula cut off the Chippewa were bid sayonara by Sheboygan.
   Oct. 6, 1999…Port Washington - Like three southeastern Wisconsin county boards before it, the Ozaukee County Board voted overwhelmingly to reject plans for an off-reservation Lac du Flambeau casino and entertainment complex. In voting 25-4 against pursuing negotiations with the tribe for a development in Belgium, the Ozaukee County Board followed suit with county boards in Waukesha, Jefferson and Sheboygan counties.
   After the vote, Tom Maulson, chairman of the Lac du Flambeau band of Chippewa, said the tribe would continue to look for a community that wants the casino development. Two supervisors, who voted in favor, Chairman Leroy Bley and Supervisor Frances Myers of Mequon, said they felt racism had crept into the debate.    "I see a serious negative attitude toward Native Americans in this room," Myers said. When Myers made her remarks, several supervisors complained loudly enough to be heard that "playing the race card" was wrong. They denied they were racist. Bley declined to elaborate on his comments. Grafton Village President Rick Leach, who spoke against the casino, said he resented the allegations that casino opponents were racist. Leach said he is 25% Cherokee and is proud of his Indian heritage. He said one could be an Indian and still oppose the casino. Supervisor Rose Hass Leider of the Town of Fredonia said that the one call in opposition she received was from a Chippewa who lives in northern Wisconsin. She said the man told her that he was afraid that someday Wisconsin would have too many casinos and that the tribe's casino in Vilas County may one day be forced to close.
Parr Ed. Note: Nowhere in all the rhetoric about this amazing, unsuccessful attempt to build a casino in the highly populated area of Southeastern Wisconsin, was mention made of the binding referendum passed by the citizens of Wisconsin. This referendum, by its character, adds to the state constitution a law that says no expansion of gambling. Parr would like to know why is this law constantly being ignored? As for the person worried about the Lake of The Torches casino in Vilas county closing, fat chance!
   The Lac du Flambeau has been kicked out of all the counties within a 50-mile radius of Milwaukee. I don't think a person who has a large casino in their hometown of Milwaukee or Green Bay will travel over 50 miles to gamble. Finally PARR would like to call your attention to the next two articles which explain completely why Tom Maulson and the Chippewa possess the kind of charm that gets them kicked out of every county they try to convince to embrace their casino.

$42,000 Shocker    Lac du Flambeau - Jill Viergutz was stunned when officials at the northern Wisconsin Indian reservation surrounding her lakefront home erected a steel gate at the head of the road she lives on and said they would soon demand she pay $42,000 to pass through it. She couldn't understand why the Lac du Flambeau band of Chippewa suddenly wanted to control access to the property her family has owned on Fence Lake in Vilas County since 1970. "It's terrifying," said Viergutz, who lives in a log house beside the 220-yard stretch of blacktop the tribe owns, which crosses the road. "I never know if the gate will be locked when I come home from work."
   Tribal officials have told Viergutz and five other landowners on Marlands Lane that they each will have to come up with $42,000 soon - or the tribe either will start locking the gate or erect a new, high-tech one on the stretch of tribal land that crosses the road. Tribal Chairman Tom Maulson has stopped short of closing the road while the tribe negotiates payment with the landowners, who have no other way to get to their property. But time is running out, he said. "This is a sovereignty issue," said Maulson. "It's no different than any other sovereignty issue. We're not trying to scare (non-Indian) people off the reservation. We just want them to know where we stand."
   The dispute over Marlands Lane, might signal the start of new tribal policy toward non-Indian property owners, he added. About 5,000 landowners use 140 miles of town roads on the reservation to get to their land, said Lac du Flambeau Town Clerk Ginger Schwanebeck. Non-Indians own about half the real estate within the reservation boundaries. Not only is the tribe negotiating with Marlands Lane property owners, it's also taking a close look at other properties to see exactly who owns what, Maulson said. "There are a lot of cloudy issues surrounding the roads," he said. "It's in everyone's best interest to get things cleared up."
   For years, local residents believed Marlands Lane belonged to the Town of Lac du Flambeau. Property owners once were assessed $10,000 to repave it, and the Town of Lac du Flambeau has been collecting federal gas tax dollars to help maintain the road since the 1930s. In 1988, the tribe even adopted a resolution that allowed the town access to the road. But a formal easement was never granted, and the tribal resolution was rescinded four years later. The issue came to a head after Robert Styer, a Ripon businessman, purchased property on Marlands Lane three years ago and agreed to pay the tribe $42,000 in exchange for permission for the next 50 years to drive across the tribal land that crosses Marlands Lane. After that, the tribal council told Styer's neighbors that they, too, each have to pay the same amount to use the road.
   "This has been muddled up for so many years, and nothing was done," Maulson said. "It's the position of this council that the tribe still owns the land, and that's what we feel it's worth to us. "We're going to put a gate up and anyone who can pony up the money will pass through it," he added. "In reality, we're not blocking it off. We're just making this a venture where people will have to pay for something they've been using all these years."
   The issue is being watched closely by Chicago Title & Trust Co., whose policyholders on Fence Lake have turned to the company for protection. "It's an important transaction for us," said Greg Pool, a Chicago Title attorney who met with tribal officials to try to hammer out an agreement. "It could be precedent-setting, so we're looking into it very seriously." Richard Monette, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School and an expert in Indian law, said the tribe has every right to regulate road usage on the reservation. "All governments have sovereign immunity, and are reluctant to waive it," he said. "If you bought property in Illinois, you would expect to live by the laws of Illinois. It should be no different on a reservation." Tribes across the United States have long exercised control over transportation systems on reservations, Monette said. For example, the Mohawk Nation in New York has halted traffic between the U.S. and Canada on several occasions.
   There seems to be little dispute that the tribe has the right to erect the gate, but Schwanebeck, the town clerk, said the amount of money the tribe is seeking is unrealistic. About a dozen years ago, when the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs negotiated 17 easements for town roads across land owned by tribal members, the settlements reflected actual property values, she said. The largest amount paid was $1,325. "Even if the land value has tripled since then, which it has, the amount the tribe wants is way out of line," Schwanebeck said. "Anybody would be willing to pay a reasonable amount for compensation and damages. But the tribe has gone overboard." Yet, Maulson and tribal officials say the Lac du Flambeau are treating non-Indian landowners much the way they have treated tribal members for generations. "When people bought Indian land, the first thing you would see was 'No Trespassing' signs going up all over the property," Maulson said. "Then they would put a chain across the road."
   Added tribal council member Brooks Big John: "There was a lot of land that was sold to non-Indians years ago because Indians couldn't pay their taxes? Now the shoe is on the other foot, and you know how I feel about that? I feel that's just too bad." But Jim Wiebe, a non-Indian resident with a vacation home on Marlands Lane, said the tribe is abusing its sovereignty. "They want to kick everyone off the reservation," he said. "That's their goal." Wiebe said not knowing how the dispute will be resolved is leaving him and others frustrated and angry. "We want to pass this (property) on from generation to generation," he said. "Now it's just a mess. What are we going to do?" According to an attorney hired by Wiebe, travel on reservation roads was granted to non-Indians by a treaty signed in 1854. Stacy Rubin Silver, a Chicago lawyer, said the treaty specified that "roads, highways and railroads . . . shall have the right of way" across Indian land. But the treaty also says that the Indians should receive compensation for providing transportation routes, Silver said.
   The property owners have been working with Chicago Title to try to find a solution. The company's attorneys reached a tentative agreement with the tribe just prior to last winter, but the deal fell through. Chicago Title also attempted to help residents by building an alternative road. But because of legal errors, the plans were delayed. The tribe, meanwhile, bought a strategic slice of land from a private owner whose property was the keystone for the planned new road. Pool, the title company's attorney, said the situation is complicated by the fact that the company has little chance of bringing the matter to court. Sovereignty protects tribes from being sued by individuals and businesses. "It's a very real prohibition," Pool said. "That's why tribes can behave as they do. They are very loath to give up their sovereign immunity." But Maulson has a different take on the matter, and he warns residents that the issue must be settled soon or the gate will be locked. "The clock is running," he said. "We're not going to wait another 30 to 40 years."
PARR Ed. Note: The Lac du Flambeau's mythical sovereignty sure didn't impress many people in Southeastern Wisconsin. No one in his or her right mind would embrace anyone capable of acts such as this article report. There is an aspect of this article that could affect everyone in the ceded territory. "The tribe is also taking a close look at other properties to see exactly who owns what," Maulson said. With that statement a light went on, going back in the archives, I discovered several articles addressing clouded land titles in the ceded territory. This condition was pooh-poohed and eventually forgotten. PARR would like to remind everyone that this stigma on your property could still become a reality.

Something Stinks in Ozaukee!    An Ozaukee County Board leader is embroiled in a controversy in Northern Wisconsin involving the Lac du Flambeau Chippewa at the same time the tribe is seeking to build a casino in Ozaukee County. Gus "Sandy" Wirth of Cedarburg, the second vice chairman of the board, is in negotiations to sell land to the Lac du Flambeau, a sale that strengthens the hand of the tribe in its attempt to force several private homeowners to pay a fee to cross reservation land en route to their homes. Because of his involvement in the dispute, Wirth said, he will abstain from any vote the Ozaukee County Board takes on whether it should support a casino in the village of Belgium.
   The Lac du Flambeau have built a gate across an access road on their reservation that leads to six parcels of private land with Fence Lake frontage. They are demanding that the private landowners each pay the tribe $42,000 in exchange for being allowed to cross the tribe's land. To end-run the tribe, the Town of Lac du Flambeau considered building another access road on the western edge of a four-acre parcel Wirth owns. To block the road's construction, Wirth is negotiating to sell a 60-by-400-foot parcel to the Lac du Flambeau Chippewa.
   "I didn't want a road across my property," Wirth said. "Besides, there are wetlands in there. I asked the town to please check with the Corps of Engineers to see if they could even build a road there." The town was considering using its power of eminent domain to take some of Wirth's land, Town Chairman Frances Chartier said. "It was a possibility," Chartier said. "I know we were looking at it." Eagle River attorney Chip Nielsen is handling the negotiations with the tribe for Wirth. "Sandy has a very valuable piece of land up there," Nielsen said. "Sandy didn't want headlights going through his front yard." Wirth said he also feels his decision to sell the land to the tribe will force the town and the tribe to negotiate a viable solution to the access problem. Wirth said he purchased the land and a small house about 30 years ago.
   The effort to close the road has been led by Lac du Flambeau Tribal Chairman Tom Maulson, who is also leading the effort to persuade officials in Ozaukee County to allow development of an off-reservation casino and entertainment complex in Belgium.
   Belgium is the fifth place in southeastern Wisconsin the tribe has tried to locate a casino and entertainment complex. The tribe has been turned down by the cities of Waukesha and New Berlin and Waukesha County, the Jefferson County Board and the Sheboygan County Board. The Ozaukee County Board's vote Oct. 6 told Maulson and Mr. Wirth to get lost. They voted 24 to 4 to disallow a tribal casino in Ozaukee County. Can't help but wonder if Mr. Wirth's land is still worth as much to Maulson?
PARR Ed. Note: Since the above was written Mr. Wirth did in fact sell the property mentioned in the above article to the Lac du Flambeau, probably retaliation for the 24 to 4 vote. I understand someone has managed to push for and get a referendum in which either the citizens of Ozaukee County or Belgium will vote for or against the casino. Wonder if Mr. Wirth had anything to do with that?
   While working on the previous articles I recalled the following information, retrieved from our archives. It is written on Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation stationery and dated approximately 1987. The following note accompanied the letter: "I came across this enclosed letter while working on a reservation in Arizona. Being a former Flathead Reservation resident, I thought it might be of interest. I am sending several copies to various residents in your area. If anyone knew I had made copies it would cost me my job, so I will remain obscure. Sounds like you are going to have a battle on your hands. Good Luck!" So Much for the note, here’s the letter:
   Dear Russel,
      This is to advise you that our long-term plan to repurchase the Flathead reservation is going smoothly and quietly. At our present rate of acquiring land from non-tribal members we will control enough land by the year 2010 to demand that Congress purchase the remaining land and return complete control of the reservation to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Those whites, which cannot be bought or taxed out, will have to be encouraged to leave by other means. The book you loaned me could come in handy. Keep me informed of the response you receive from other Tribes as you travel across the country.
         Your friend, Joseph Felsman.
   A conspiracy? Sure appears to be the same methods employed by the Lac du Flambeau.   We realize that this whole series of articles about the Lac du Flambeau's inability to hit pay-dirt in Southeastern Wisconsin, and the reasons, are redundant, however we felt they were all necessary to tell the story properly.

Korean War Veterans Dishonored
(By Bob Manzke)   The United States lost more than 35,000 servicemen during the Korean War, and 50 years later a few citizens of Korea are claiming that some of their innocent loved ones, who were refugees, were gunned down by American soldiers in a place called No Gun RI.
   Now the liberal mainstream media has gotten on the disclaim the sacrifices and accomplishments of previous generations kick again. With a weeklong series of daily articles they voice their suspicions of a cover-up by the Pentagon. They apologize over the need for an investigation of alleged war crimes in Korea over 50 years ago. They regret the lack of an international war crimes court to investigate. Is anyone naive enough to believe that any Americans standing trial for these alleged "war crimes" would get a fair shake from the North Koreans and Chinese whom no doubt would be on this International tribunal. Clinton would make sure of that.
   I would like to ask the brave editors, responsible for this series of articles, how they would like to live with what they can carry on their back for weeks or months at a time. Were they ever scared beyond anything that anyone who wasn’t there could ever comprehend, because every moment of every day someone is trying to kill you?
   After viewing the bodies of several hundred of your buddies who were taken prisoners, and killed by the North Korean regulars that filtered through your lines as refugees, how would you feel Mr. Editor? Then after taking your buddies prisoner, these same refugees wired their hands behind their backs and shot them in the back of the head. Tell me, Mr. brave editor, what would you do with the next group of refugees interlaced with North Korean troops? Undoubtedly, these conniving Koreans have figured out how to put the bite on Uncle Sam, for a free ride based on alleged wrongdoings of the past, and why not, it sure works for the Indians. I would ask the Koreans and the liberal mainstream media: Who will pay damages to the families of the 35,000-plus servicemen who died in Korea? Are these American families supposed to be "good citizens" and forget that their loved ones died for a good cause, which was to prevent a communist takeover of South Korea?
   I wonder if these Koreans ever thought about the fact that those 35,000-plus Americans who died in Korea saved hundreds of thousands of their countrymen from slaughter by the North Koreans. The prosperity of South Korea is a direct result of the American men and women who served and died there. The U.S. taxpayer has propped up the Korean economy and continues to do so. And now, the American taxpayer will be asked to pay millions of dollars in damages because a few people died who shouldn’t have. I’m very sorry they died; but I’m also very sorry our servicemen died, too. Mistakes were made. Let’s leave it at that. "War is hell," Gen. William Sherman said. Innocent deaths, sometimes, are a part of war.
PARR Ed note: We wish the flower children, who now control the mainstream media, would stop trying to justify their own pathetic, selfish, unproductive lives by either trying to change history, or by condemning accomplishments of previous generations of Americans. Nowadays patriotism is considered a sin and veterans are evil, obviously the media has been very successful, so successful that they managed to get a military-hating draft dodger elected president for two terms. I wonder, could this be a pang of conscience? Why go after the USA for retribution? Unless my memory fails me, in Korea, the United States Army was fighting under the flag of the United Nations.
   This writer was a member of the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and I consider these articles a personal insult.

Issue Item Radioactive ants, flies and gnats have been found at the Hanford nuclear complex, bringing to mind those Cold War-era B horror movies in which giant, mutant insects are the awful price paid for mankind's entry into the Atomic Age. Officials at the nation's most contaminated nuclear site insist there is no danger of Hanford becoming the setting for a '90s version of "Them!,'' the 1954 movie starring James Arness and James Whitmore in which huge, marauding ants are spawned by nuclear experiments in the desert.
It has been rumored that several Indian tribes are now claiming that the giant radioactive freaks are curtailing their congress given rights to fleece the white-eyed-taxpayers in their casinos. Unconfirmed reports indicate that potential suckers are being scared away from casinos by 40-foot tall fire breathing ants. Presumably only those who have participated in the government approved ritual use of peyote have seen these ants.

Irresponsible Tribal Hunting is Dangerous
(By Ron Heinlein) Consider this: It's fall and dark at 8:PM, and you are sitting in your living room watching TV with your family on a Sunday night, when you were startled by a light flashing through your windows. The light source is from a direction where normally no headlights strike your house. The light flash was followed by a shot, very close, less than 100 yards from your house. So you go outside to investigate. Out side you see a truck drive onto your field, so you get into your truck and go out to see what is happening. You notice 2 guys trying to catch a wounded six point buck. When they see you coming they jump back into their truck and the chase is on. You are at an advantage, because you know your property and they don't. This enables you to corral them into a ditch. They get out of their truck laughing, and they tell you, now you must pull us out, because we are Indians. You tell them no and call the local authorities; after all they are on private land. The warriors think its all a joke, and proclaim that they do this for recreation: Some recreation! The heads of several more bucks were observed in the back of their pickup.
As bizarre as this incident may seem it did happen in the small rural township of Mason, Wisconsin, on Oct 3, 1999. Is this what we must put up with? Where are our rights? Has our second class citizenship sunk so low that our safety and that of our families is now put in jeopardy to provide recreation for Lac du Flambeau Indians? After all, these two had total disregard for anyone's safety. They shot right towards a house occupied by an entire family including small children. Lucky for the farmer and his family that this time the warrior's fun didn't turn into tragedy for someone else. Does all common sense disappear with treaty rights?
PARR Ed Note: Official sources have revealed the following to Greg Graunke PARR chairman: "The tribal members are being charged with hunting deer during the closed season, trespass, and may face additional charges. All the charges will be filed with the Bayfield County Clerk of Courts and will be adjudicated in State Court." PARR will keep an eye on this story, and will let you know the outcome in a future newsletter.

Governments Acquire Land as Reservation Expansion ?
(By Bob Manzke)   The state's purchase of 32,814 acres of northern woodlands will give people more access to Wisconsin's nature areas. It also will lead to higher property taxes for landowners in four counties. Wisconsin is buying the undeveloped land in Iron, Lincoln, Oneida and Vilas counties from an Illinois paper company for $25 million, the largest land acquisition in state history. The property, in counties where vast stretches of land already are publicly owned, has become part of an ongoing debate in northern Wisconsin over development vs. conservation. "It's great that there is so much land open to the public, but how much is enough?" Iron County Treasurer Mark Gianunzio said. "Over the long haul, this is going to end up costing taxpayers more." Land owned by local, state and federal governments is not subject to property taxes - meaning local governments will collect no more tax money on the land once the sale is complete. The state, through the Department of Natural Resources, reimburses local governments for lost property taxes, but they hold steady at current levels and will never reflect possible increases in property values.
   More significantly, land owned by the government will not be open to development: No expensive lakefront homes, subdivisions or strip malls that pad property tax rolls. "It's not that you've just lost the tax base, you've also lost the development opportunity and the increased taxes that come with it," said Phillip Spranger, a Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance research associate. An increased tax is almost certain to be the solution. Iron County already is 50 percent owned by government agencies. That will increase to 53 percent once the sale of 11,703 acres is complete, according to a Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. Only Forest County has a higher percent age of publicly owned land at 58 percent Land in Vilas County will be 44.6 percent publicly owned after 1,481 acres are sold; Oneida County will be 27.6 percent publicly owned after 14,504 acres are sold; and Lincoln County will be 19.6 percent publicly owned after 5,126 acres are sold.
   Overall, a third of the counties' 2.3 million acres is publicly owned. Constance Valkenaar, administrative secretary for the Vilas County forest, recreation and land office, said, "This is part of the balance the governor is trying to reach in northern Wisconsin," said Kevin Keane, a spokesman for Gov. Tommy Thompson. The governor negotiated the land purchase. Besides the state and local government ownership of land in this country, the United States Government now owns 49% of all the rest of the land in the United States. This is a far cry from the harbors and munitions dumps allowed in the constitution.
PARR Ed Note: Consider this: Not only has this land been taken off the tax rolls, creating an added burden on the declining taxpayer, it has all become an expansion to the Indian reservations. None of the local conservation laws apply to Indians on government land. Non-Indians are not allowed into areas where certain tribal-ritual-herbs and plants grow. And finally an attempt was made to allow the tribes to cut up to 40,000 board feet of prime timber each, but that failed. Read on.

Free Trees! Not Really
(By Greg Graunke)   Earlier this year the Federal Forest Service, in their zeal to comply with President Clinton's executive order to treat Indian tribes as sovereign nations, announced a memorandum of understanding with the Chippewa. This deal was to be a give-away of timber to the Chippewa. The Forest Service rhetoric explained that this was to be a small insignificant amount timber from federal forest. Is 40,000 board feet of choice timber each, small? This timber was to be used for various purposes on the reservation, housing and other ceremonial purposes. PARR along with several other state and local government agencies opposed this free timber deal, because it excluded everyone but the Chippewa. This theme seems to have a familiar ring.
   A period for public comment actually was a part setting up of this give away process. During that period PARR sent several letters and received several replies. One letter thanked us for our comments, and explained that the agency had received a large amount of comments on the subject. A later press release, from the Forest Service, proclaimed that they had received very few comments. Perhaps they lost the appropriate comments allowing them to reduce the condition from many to few? Why the contradicting statements? Who knows!
   When it was announced that the Chippewa would be receiving free federal timber, PARR decided to ask for our free share. This share was to be given to various non-profit-organizations for use as housing and to generate funds for conservation organizations. PARR was denied. Not accepting this PARR continued to press the issue, after all this is federal forest timber that belongs to all of us, and should be shared equally by all. During recent phone conservation with an agent of The Federal Forest service, PARR was told that there would be no free timber give-away, to anyone. Reason: Because no equitable way can be derived to give everyone an equal share. It certainly is mind boggling how a government agency has no problem giving away public property to certain non-contributing-minority groups, but finds it impossible to devise a scheme that treats everyone else equally.
   PARR asked that if at any future date this free timber give away comes up again our request be resubmitted. The Forest Service assured us that our request is taken into consideration if any new "MOU" appeared.
PARR Ed Note: This really doesn’t prove conclusively that all Government land is Indian land, but it sure makes it hard to refute.

Weasel Politics
(By Bob Manzke)   In September PARR received an urgent fax from Marilyn Hayman of Citizens for Responsible Zoning and Landowner Rights, Inc. (CRZLR) of Maiden Rock WI.   Marilyn asked for an immediate response to prevent
the following:
   "The Democratic controlled Wisconsin Senate quietly passed a land use-planning bill. The bill didn't pass the house, but it was slipped into the budget as the smart growth amendment and is now in the joint conference committee. This is a last minute attempt to get it through without full debate. This will open the door to state management of all private land. Please respond immediately." PARR responded with the following letter to the involved committee members.
   Dear Rep. Whoever, I was just informed of the (smart growth) amendment that has been attached to the budget bill. With this communication, Protect American's Rights & Resources (PARR) a nation wide grass roots organization is lodging protest against this sort of under the table legislating.
   PARR realizes that this amendment is another attempt, by the extreme eco-freaks to obtain control of every blade of grass and everything above and below in this state. If there is nothing sinister or suspicious about this amendment, why wasn't it presented as a bill and exposed to full scrutiny, by way of public discussion and debate.
   PARR urges you to remove this amendment from the budget. Make the proponents of this action bring it out of the darkness into the light.
      Sincerely, Bob Manzke Exec. Secretary.

Issue Item Study finding --- On advertising practices of casinos ``Many advertisements emphasize luck over hard work, instant gratification over prudent investment and entertainment over savings.''

Issue Item Spearing is called a rite of spring, the same as blooming trillium and the sight of the colorful merganser cruising a sheltered bay. While these are indescribable sights of beauty, The sight of a plastic tub of bloody, dead female and male walleyes and muskies is not, in my opinion, a beautiful, ritualistic sight of the dawn of spring. It is a selfish, destructive assault on a resource that is no longer renewable as a result of the practices of a minority of people who call their practice a tradition and a ritual.

Church Bulletin Bloopers: Our next song is "Angels We Have Heard Get High".
Don't let worry kill you--let the church help.
Remember in prayer the many that are sick of our church and community.
For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
Weight Watchers will meet a 7 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church.
Please use large double door at the side entrance.
Jean will be leading a weight-management series Wednesday nights.
She's used the program herself and has been growing like crazy!
The rosebud on the altar this morning is to announce the birth of David Alan Belzer, the sin of Rev. and Mrs. Julius Belzer.
This afternoon there will be a meeting in the South and North ends of the church.
Children will be baptized at both ends.
Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. there will be an ice cream social.
All ladies giving milk will please come early.
This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs.
Lewis to come forward and lay an egg on the altar.
The service will close with Little Drops of Water.
One of the ladies will start quietly and the rest of the congregation will join in.
Next Sunday a special collection will be taken to defray the cost of the new carpet.
All those wishing to do something on the carpet should come forward and do so.
The ladies of the church have cast off clothing of every kind.
They can be seen in the church basement Saturday. Thursday night--Potluck supper.
Prayer and medication to follow.
Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
The senior choir invites any member of the congregation who enjoys sinning to join the choir.
At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.
During the absence of our pastor, we enjoyed the rare privilege of hearing a good sermon when A. B. Doe supplied our pulpit.
The Rev. Adams spoke briefly, much to the delight of his audience.
The church is glad to have with us today as our guest minister the Rev. Shirley Green, who has Mrs. Green with him. After the service we request that all remain in the sanctuary for the Hanging of the Greens.
The eighth graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet" in the church basement on Friday at 7 p.m.
The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
The 1991 Spring Council Retreat will be hell May 10 and 11.
Pastor is on vacation. Massages can be given to church secretary.
Please join us as we show our support for Amy and Alan in preparing for the girth of their first child.
Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

DNR Enforces Trivia And you thought all the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) did was to allow themselves to be blackmailed by the Lac du Flambeau. Following are the top ten of the, even though obscure, still ridiculous (WDNR) regulations.
1. Prohibit possession of a ferret while hunting.
2. Regulate the color of out-houses.
3. Forbid using a gun to hunt frogs.
4. List who can legally cook clams.
5. Prohibit attaching a homing device to a fish.
6. Restrict driver possession of a road kill deer to no more than 90 days.
7. Require falcon owners to have a bath container for their birds.
8. Require that a net used to catch turtles be made of nylon or a stretchable fabric.
9. Control where wild ginseng seeds can be planted.
10. Allow gill-netters to refrain from lifting their nets on Sunday. Looks like a reasonable #11 would be computerized hunting license issuing.

Membership Meeting    On September 19, 1999 PARR held its annual general membership meeting at Arbor Vitae Wisconsin. The first order of business was the election of officers. Following are the results of that election:
Chairman: Greg Graunke
Vice Chairman: Larry Peterson
Director of Administration: J. E. Schumacher
Executive Secretary – Treasurer: Bob Manzke
Directors: James Skowlund, Nancy Skowlund, Bob Goldamer, Ron Heinlein, and Petra Heinlein.
   Larry Peterson implied that he no longer wanted the responsibility of the chairmanship, so he and Greg Graunke traded places. The membership voted to donate $250 to PERM of Minnesota. Their fight is still very alive with the Fon du Lac's treaty rights suit. The outcome of that suit could very well impact us here in Wisconsin. Another action of the membership, at this meeting, was to donate $50 to the Bong P-38 memorial museum being built in Superior WI. The membership also decided, at this meeting, that PARR should establish a web site. We sure could use help from anyone with experience in this area.
   I must say I was elated at the turn out for this meeting. This year was great. And I sure hope next year is even better.

Click the Membership Application to open in a new window for separate printing.

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