From the Traverse City Record-Eagle:
PESHAWBESTOWN — A local American Indian tribe wants to expand its reservation.
Nearly 80 acres of additional land in northwest Michigan is a good start.
The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians acquired a 78-acre parcel in Antrim County’s Milton Township last week.
Tribal Chairman Derek Bailey said the land trust soon will house 22 residential sites for band members.
The recent land acquisition addressed a “fundamental need” for tribal housing located near Turtle Creek Casino in Williamsburg and Grand Traverse Resort & Spa in Acme, Bailey said.
The parcel originally was zoned for agricultural development, said Chris Weinzapfel, Milton Township zoning administrator. But the band spent $1.5 million on road, sewer, water and electrical improvements, in hopes it could obtain residential zoning rights.
“Neither the township or county objected to this,” Bailey said “There was complete compliance.”
The U.S. Department of the Interior approved the trust acquisition, which was filed by the band eight years ago.
Bailey said he grew tired of waiting for a decision to be made.
So he testified last week in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C., about his concern with several ongoing trust acquisitions nationwide.
“Unfortunately, the land-into-trust process has become tortuously slow and complicated,” he said. “The department’s treatment of these trust applications is mind-boggling to me.”
Band members filed several trust acquisition requests with the Department of the Interior over the past 17 years — four were returned and six are pending. The four acquisitions returned were filed between 1992 and 1994, and were too old to be ruled upon, Bailey said.
“Too old, that’s very troubling,” he said. “We did our part.”
Bailey said he will continue to address ongoing trust acquisitions, and plans to reapply for the four that were returned.
“They are aware there is a significant push for this,” he said. “The best time to act is when the iron’s hot.”
A spokesperson for the Department of the Interior did not return repeated calls for comment.
Turtle Talk 