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Giles Morris - Northwoods Media

Forest County and the Forest County Potawatomi Community (FCPC) are heading towards a standoff that could have major financial implications and unsettle the uneasy balance that has existed between the two entities since the tribe used its gaming revenues to purchase the Crandon mine in 2003.

On June 19, the FCPC filed a complaint asking the Forest County Circuit Court to enforce a land agreement between the tribe and Forest County. The complaint was filed just two days after the Forest County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution that terminated the legally binding land agreement.

On July 9 Forest County submitted an answer and affirmative defense to the tribe’s complaint, claiming in their argument that a state statute protects their decision to terminate the land agreement that originally provided the owners of the proposed Crandon mine the right to purchase approximately 880 acres of county land in Lincoln Township.

FCPC and the Mole Lake Sokaogon Ojibwe purchased the Crandon mine in 2003 for $16.5 million. As part of that deal the FCPC assumed the right to purchase the adjacent 880-acre parcel from Forest County. But the county claims that because the tribe did not renew its mining permits, it forfeited its right to buy the land, which was offered for sale contingent upon the development of a mining operation.

The transfer of judicial authority from Judge Robert A. Kennedy Jr. to newly appointed Judge Leon Stenz has delayed the Forest County Circuit Court from setting a date for a hearing on the case, but a court clerk said on Monday that similar civil suits often require a run-up of as much as a year so that both parties can gather all of the appropriate information.

FCPC Tribal Chairman Philip Shopodock responded to the county board’s vote to terminate the agreement by suggesting the tribe would be willing to settle the dispute outside of court but that it would legally protect its right to the land sale pending a resolution.

"It is unfortunate that the actions of the county board pushed us to seek a legal remedy to this situation," said Shopodock. "We would like to continue discussions with the county to find ways to solve this impasse, but we need to ensure that the rights of the tribe are protected."

Gary Mueller, a member of the Forest County Board of Supervisors who represents the Lincoln Township area containing the contested land parcel, was largely responsible for bringing the issue to the board’s attention. Mueller said that when he first came on to the county’s forestry committee he learned that the county was still accepting payments from the tribe to preserve the land sale option. His committee argued that the county should stop accepting the payments and return the money it had received from the FCPC since the tribe ceased renewal on the permits to develop the mine, in spite of the fact that the county’s land option committee had voted to approve the sale of the land on May 13. Mueller’s forestry committee voted on May 27 to recommend that the county should terminate the agreement.

Mueller believes the real issue is that the county initially agreed to sell the land, because it recognized the economic potential of a tax windfall that would result from a successful mining operation. If the FCPC is granted permission by the federal government to put the land into trust, the county will not receive any tax revenue from the land.

“Some day it will probably end up being mined and the residents of Forest County should get a piece of the pie,” Mueller said. “We’d like to give them some money back and wait until the mine is developed to arrange a fair agreement. We’re not trying to stop the mine. We just want to be a player in the game when it happens.”

According to the tribe, Forest County has received $1.5 million from the various owners of the proposed Crandon mine to preserve the land purchase agreement. In addition FCPC would pay Forest County $900,000 for the 880-acre property upon closing the sale, providing the county with much-needed revenue.

Ken Walsh, who works for the public affairs firm of Martin Schreiber and Associates that is representing the tribe, said the case is clear-cut.

“The tribe has been paying to keep the option alive and they want the county to follow through on the agreement,” Walsh said.

Walsh said the agreement signed by the county does not allow the county to terminate the option to buy the land contingent upon the status of mining permits.

The county board now appears to have dug in its heels on terminating the agreement. But Forest County Board Chairman Erhard Huettl had been instrumental in forming the land purchase option agreement over 20 years ago, and he has removed three members of the county’s forestry committee, including Gary Mueller.

“When you become a county supervisor the chairman assigns the committees. For reasons of his own the chairman removed three members of the committee and assigned three new members,” Mueller said. “I don’t think the re-assignment will have an impact on the county’s position.”

Huettl did not immediately return a phone call requesting a comment.

The stakes of the dispute over the land sale agreement have grown as the price of minerals has skyrocketed. The Crandon mine site, which was the subject of a fierce battle between mining proponents and environmental activist for almost two decades, sits on top of 55 million tons of ore rich in zinc and copper. Mueller said the ore could be worth up to $16 billion at today’s valuations.

To learn more about the site of the Crandon mine site, visit the DNR’s Web site at http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/es/science/crandon/review/faq.htm

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Editor wrote on Sep 11, 2008 11:24 AM:

" the Mole Lake tribe referenced in this article should be Sokaogon Chippewa, not Sokaogon Ojibwe "

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