TOPIC:

Is it possible to make this so we can share this? There are several great lakes groups that I'm a member of and this is important information and helpful. It would help a lot of people understand what's really going on. 

cut and paste?  ought to work

I'll give that a try. Thank you. Have a great day. 

God Bless 

Consent Decree status conference leads to extension
Nick Green | June 10, 2021 | The 2020 Consent Decree governing treaty and recreational fishing in the northern Great Lakes of Michigan was again extended June 4 after a status conference was held in federal court in Kalamazoo.The parties gathered at the request of the court to provide an overview of their take on the negotiations thus far and their attitudes towards reaching a mutual agreement. At the end of the conference, the current governing document, the 2000 Consent Decree,  was extended by U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney until the end of the year. The six-month extension comes about one month before the current extension, which was granted in December 2020, was set to expire. In addition to extending the decree, the judge also scheduled a follow-up status conference for September 10.Attorneys from the State of Michigan, five sovereign Michigan tribes, the United States and the mediator in the negotiations, former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Michael Cavanaugh,  were in attendance. Representatives of the Coalition to Protect Michigan’s Resources (CPMR) and the Bays de Noc Sportfishermen, Inc. also attended the conference. Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC) is a core member of CPMR, which is represented by Steve Schultz and Chris Patterson. Schultz has been involved with the treaty negotiations since the original 1985 Consent Decree. Both are attorneys at Fahey Schultz Burzych Rhodes PLC.Since 1985, a large portion of Michigan’s Great Lakes fishery has been shared under an agreement between five of Michigan’s sovereign tribes and the State of Michigan. This agreement was entered by the federal court in a “consent decree” that applied to what is known as the 1836 Treaty Waters. The treaty waters extend from the mouth of the Grand River in Lake Michigan to Alpena in Lake Huron and from Sault Ste. Marie to almost Marquette on Lake Superior.The Consent Decree identifies the rules and areas where tribal commercial fishers, tribal subsistence fishers and recreational sport fishers may fish. Certain areas of the Great Lakes are mostly reserved for sportfishing, while others are shared or reserved mostly for commercial fishing by the tribes.The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages the sport fishery under the decree, which also includes how available stocks are measured and what methods of take may be used by fishers. The DNR also determines creel limits, fishing methods and fisheries management for recreational anglers — who pay, through license dollars and excise taxes, to manage the fishery.Since 1937, MUCC has united citizens to conserve, protect and enhance Michigan’s natural resources and outdoor heritage – and we do so from Lansing to Washington D.C. Please join us today:  bit.ly/JoinMUCC

It's easy to see the lawyers involved with this are paid by the hour, not by the outcome.   

BNature wrote:

It's easy to see the lawyers involved with this are paid by the hour, not by the outcome.   


You might be correct Mike. There is a gag order in place so nobody is talking/sharing information right now.
 

Great Lakes Salmon Initiative 3/10/22

The consent decree negotiations are still underway and the deadline has been extended again to June 30, 2022. We are frustrated by the lack of progress and the gag order imposed by the Federal Court. This issue is resulting in fisheries management paralysis within Treaty of 1836 waters and the GLSI has put a number of plans related to our fishery on hold so they don't have any negative impact on the negotiations.

The article below was printed in the Leelanau Enterprise and we agree wholeheartedly with it so we are sharing it with their permission.

Mum's the Word on the Lake Michigan Fisheries Talks
As printed in the Leelanau Enterprise by Alan Campbell.
www.leelanaunews.com/

Did you hear what happened at an important court hearing held Friday in the nearly three year negotiations to divvy up fishing opportunities in Lake Michigan among state and Tribal interests? Neither did I. And neither did anyone outside of a small tent of dignitaries who have chosen to create public policy far from public view.
The negotiations have dragged, delayed for a while by the pandemic. At least that was the perception. But there is a bigger problem. In fact, there are two problems. One is that public policy regulating a resource that affect hundreds of thousands of people is being determined without citizen input. And the other is that once that policy is set, you and I will be expected to accept its result without protest.
I’m talking about prolonged attempts to write a new fishing pact for most of Lake Michigan including all of the Leelanau Shoreline to replace a court order that expired in the summer of 2020. All parties to the negotiations, including MDNR and Tribal representatives, have been hushed by a confidentiality agreement that’s worn out its welcome.
The code of silence prevents Tribal representatives from communicating with their members. And it stops the MDNR director from speaking one word about the state’s goals and stances in this secret standoff.
I understand the need for representatives to speak freely to each other, to hold frank discussions. Negotiations can be messy. But neither Tribal nor state constituents have a clue about the priorities of their negotiators other than to get a nebulous “good deal”.
It’s past time to let some air out of the hot balloon. Time for negotiators to report their progress or lack thereof to a public that will be expected to buy into the result of negotiations. It’s time for negotiators to talk to the people who pay their salaries.
Reprinted by permission,
Leelanau Enterprise 2022.

 

amen!  And I presume the Feds are deeply embroiled in all of this and probably want to make sure there are ample opportunities for LGBQT tribal members to participate in the fishery.  

Also didn't MI reduce their king stocking by half this year because of all of this?

details on that record King must be included in gag order.