APOLOGY TO HESSEL COMMUNITY MEMBERS: I apologize that some have chosen to make a claim of what I said about your community that is not true. It is amazing to me given two our Seven Grandfather Teachings include Honesty and Truth but apparently those who make a claim that I said something are unwilling to repeat or put in writing what I supposedly said. SO TO BE CLEAR, WHAT I SAID [PARAPHRASED]: That the exploitative Hessel Forest cut proposal is like the federal government in the 1850s getting supposed leaders to treaties giving up their land and resources while using Rye Whiskey during the negotiations. This implies those who brought the exploitative proposal forward did not have your best interests at heart. PROTECTING THE HESSEL COMMUNITY MEMBERS FROM ANYONE WHO WOULD EXPLOIT THEM: I care deeply about the Hessel Community. My blood line traces back to my Grama Toto Angeline Beaver who was cousins with the Osagawins. In fact, my Grama Toto is buried in the Italian Cemetery. Many of my childhood memories were of visiting the grave site and my Grama Maria (Boulley) Parr visiting her blood relatives in Hessel. The proposal that was pushed was bad, and I am proud to fight to protect their community and their forest. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS IN SUMMARY: I am disturbed by this as it takes for granted what the Hessel Members may or may not want with respect to their forest. I can tell you, that if anyone ~ a Board Member, a Chairperson, or even a former resident who is now on the Board ~ tried to push a secret proposal to cut the trees down, I would be not only be upset, I would protest very loudly. The two Unit 2 Board Members met with me the first month or two I was in office to inform me they had a proposal to do what they described as a selective cut. They explained to me that they regularly met with the Chairperson directly outside of Board meetings. I got the distinct feeling I was supposed to keep this secret from the rest of the Board. I explained I was not comfortable with this. I explained to several Board Members when this happened as I felt that someday it would come back to be a controversy. Their plan was to allow this Maple saw company to come in to cut these trees and keep the sales for their Unit2. While admirable, the revenues would undoubtedly go into the General fund and not for an individual Unit. That would clearly be the Board’s decision. INLAND CONSERVATION STAFF AND INLAND CONSERVATION COMMITTEE INPUT First, I admit I was shocked by the proposal to cut down the Hessel Forest. I handed off the proposal to our Inland Conservation Staff and asked that it be evaluated. The staff Member noted that we did not have a Forest Management Plan and that he did not have the exact qualifications to evaluate the plan. He did have concerns on behalf of the Inland Conservation Committee for which they have the charge to serve as guardians of our natural resources with respect to hunting, fishing, and gathering. They were designated this duty by the Tribal Board of Directors. The Inland Conservation Committee, by the way, resoundingly rejected this exploitative proposal and were miffed that anyone thought this was a valid proposal for consideration. Given the Inland staff had a great concern but not the technical expertise, we asked a Sault Tribe Member who is considered an expert in the field, to evaluate the proposal. The Tribal Member has a PhD in Forest Management and works for Dartmouth University as an Assistant Professor. His assessment was that the proposal was not good and that it was exploitative. Where the company and Board members characterized it as a selective cut, the collective input from our own staff and Member expert in Forestry is that the proposal was exploitative to our natural resources. BEECH BLIGHT There was an argument made by Board Members that the reason was due to this. The reality is that only 2% of one of the parcels is impacted by this and the other 16% on the others. This is hardly a good justification. Quite frankly, it appears like a smoke screen to me to cover up the fact that the proposal is not good and is exploitative but was nonetheless pushed by Board Members long beyond any rational reasoning. CULTURAL VALUE OF MAPLE TREES IN THE HESSEL AREA I am amazed that anyone would want to cut down our beautiful Maple Trees. My family has land on Sugar Island. I grew up with the Sugar Bush teachings. I am sure that the Hessel Elders did the same in their community as my Grama Toto lived both in Hessel and on Sugar Island and was part of this effort in both communities. Some of these old trees that the maple saw mill wants to cut down for a profit to us of no more than say $30,000 would cut down trees that were alive when my Grama Toto was a little girl (late 1800s). Decimating these trees could kills off this aspect of our culture for the Hessel Community. While I do not know of anyone doing large harvests, cutting down the trees would eliminate the possibility entirely and possibility forever.
Posted on: Mon, 09 Jun 2014 20:57:46 +0000
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