Joe Fellegy is trying to get the message across to the Governor that the DNR has an annual budget of almost 1/2 a million dollars for regulation,testing and misc expenses that are needed for Mille lacs. Not to mention the lost dollars in the local economy.
The Wisconsin bands who take most of the netted fish have already expressed interest in selling their allotment.
Would you be in favor of using the DNR fund to pay the band if it would stop the current slot process?
Thanks Derek, Yes and thank you Joe!
I have been saying this for sometime….that a buy out is the only way out of this deal with the band (Wis.) I know from growing up here on Mille Lacs that the MLBO have always fished in the streams and netted the lake in the spring. This was done on a very small scale. Not many were awhere of this activity at all………
The Money that is spent to police this spring netting activity is a very large figure. It would be less costly to follow a buy out in the long run. During the two-three weeks of tribal netting here on Mille Lacs, we have more CO’s around this lake than in any other area of the state. When these officers are pulled out of their home areas there is no one left at home to watch the homeland…
It will interesting to see where this might end?
Let’s hope!
I totally agree. Maybe a petition needs to be started?
Just a couple of Tribal boats netting last spring……….
another… I had a hard time not wanting to start something on this morning. It’s really difficult to sit back and see this activity just out of your window
notice the plastic bins full of walleye in the front of the boat. I wonder how many of these fish fall in the slot?
sorry for the blur in the photo…….it was taken through my screen on the window.
last one…… this boat was a little over loaded? 
in the last picture, the boat is way over loaded weight wise. if i am reading the tag in my boat right, there is a max weight for motor, persons, and gear (walleye). when they return to the landings i thought that the dnr was supposed to weigh their catch as to keep track of the band’s take. three men+motor+enough “gear” to push the boat well below the normal water line= a ticket for over loaded boat. just wondering if my thinking is correct? without joe fellegy on our side we would be in a world of hurt. keep up the good work joe!!!
Hey those weren’t canoes. Kind of sad to see that overloaded boat. Yes, I am in favor of buying out the tribes and also support Joe’s ideas.
Yes, I would definitely support this. I would also support a “Mille Lacs” special stamp for a few bucks to help supplement the funding for this buy out.
Good idea with the stamp purchase! I have not heard that idea before………I think after what many of us have seen happen on Mille Lacs we might all kick in something else to get rid of the nets
Come on you guys do you really think that we can buy them out…after all don’t they net for religious reasons? 
Heres an e-mail Joe just sent me.
” I have been an outspoken advocate for change at Mille Lacs. The
present DNR version of “treaty fisheries management” for the sport
fishery puts Mille Lacs through a meat grinder every year —
economically, socially, and from a public image standpoint. DNR can
propose change and work towards something that might be a bit more
hands-off. This doesn’t have to involve costly court fights, a ton of
lobbying, or a ton of money. It simply means that they recognize that
a lot of their constituents are ticked off, that the overall impacts
are negative and too costly, and that change is in order.
> I may be wrong, but I have concluded that the buyout idea may be a
> non-starter. I have never championed it. It sounds easy — so many
> pounds of walleye fillets, times the going market value, equals X
> dollars, eager-for-bucks “Indians” bite, everything goes away, and we
> live happily ever after. The fact is that GLIFWC has a multi-million
> dollar budget. Each of its member bands (including SIX in Wisconsin)
> has its own DNR with big budgets. That whole tribal mgt. machine
> employs many people in high-paying jobs. Also, their MANAGEMENT roles,
> and their POLITICAL INFLUENCE, and their JURISDICTIONAL CLOUT (as
> co-MANAGERS), are way more important to them than the fish. If we were
> dealing with just plain Indians, they probably could be “bought out.”
> But that’s not the case. $400,000 in fish money would mean about
> nothing to them — less than $100,000 per Wisconsin band. Politically,
> their argument would be, “Our rights aren’t for sale.” Also, if they
> simply wanted fish fillets, they could buy them off a truck (probably
> with Agriculture Dept. $$$$).
>
> Also, lots of us would find it distasteful to pay them a dime. They
> get millions in federal tax dollars now. For example, we pay the Mille
> Lacs Band nearly 5 million a year just to run their school. They have
> casino monopolies which bring in tens of millions. And they spend lots
> of bucks fighting the state in legal battles on multiple fronts. We
> subsidize their whole resouce management show, including GLIFWC and
> the individual tribal DNRs. Why grovel and give tribal operatives
> MORE money?
I also question the idea of a “Mille Lacs stamp” whose proceeds would
go towards a “buy-out.” Recall the controversy generated by the “Leech
Lake Stamp” in the 1970s. That had to be scrapped. The stamp
irritated anglers and made Leech Lake a hornet’s nest. (Now the state
pays the equivalent of 5 percent of each year’s fishing, hunting,
trapping, and various other license revenues.)
Most of the heat should be directed at DNR administrators and the
Fisheries Section who refuse to acknowledge that the present experiment
with quota management on a major sport fishery has some big
shortcomings. A huge negative has been to set Mille Lacs off as a
problem child, always under the microscope, where every little belch
and fart in the fish population becomes a public issue, and where
everything is a problem, no matter how fast or slow the fishing. Even
the recent announcement of an expanded walleye harvest slot for ’04
came with Fisheries personnel predicting that fishing will be slow in
’04. Great p.r., eh? The whole thing is a negative and must go. The
state can propose changes in its program, run it by the tribal
“co-managers,” and, if necessary, offer it to the appropriate federal
court for approval. This would NOT mean opening up the big old Mille
Lacs treaty case. These are Phase II “allocation” issues dealing with
resources — harvest and management.”
Has anyone ever tried to launch your boat at a public access on Mille Lacs during the tribal netting season?
You can’t……….they close them down…….fences etc…..
they should change the signs
to read: “public access most of the time” they are no longer public??? 
Check this story out. As long as we are renegotiating the casino slots, we sould add Mille Lacs slots to THIS list!
Lawmakers introduce bill to outlaw slot mahines
Lawmakers introduce bill to outlaw slot mahines
Updated: 03-03-2004 01:16:02 PM
ST. PAUL (AP) – A pair of Republican lawmakers is proposing outlawing slot machines if Indian tribes refuse to renegotiate their gambling compacts with the state.
The machines would be banned beginning in 2006.
State Rep. Jim Knoblach and Sen. Tom Neuville say the state has the power to outlaw slot machines. Their bill would force the tribes back to the table with the governor.
Among other things, the renegotiated compacts would have to:
raise the legal gambling age to 21
share tribes’ gambling revenues with the state
expire within 20 years
Gordon Adams Jr. of the Bois Forte Band calls the proposal “extortion” and “below the belt.”
Jon J.
Hit ’em where it hurts 
I was really suprised to find out that the state didn’t receive any money from the tribal casinos. Doesn’t make a lick of sense to me.
Thanks,
Steve 
All in favor Say yes We get taxed for making money They live here too.Make them pay also Who makes them better than us,
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