MANISTEE — Indigenous tribes across Northern Michigan are speaking out against a proposed rule repeal of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule warning it could disrupt sacred burial grounds and threaten the ecosystem.
It all started in 2001 when the Roadless Rule was enacted as a measure to help preserve national forest land.
“It means a roadless area, no roads can go in, no infrastructure and no timber harvest,” said Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Biologist Derek Hartline.
The rule protects roughly 45 million acres of national forest and 16 thousand acres throughout Michigan. Many of these areas run through tribal land. Hartline said repealing the rule is a breach of rights.
“it’s taking away treaty rights in a way, if these areas are getting infrastructure erode or timber harvest, a lot of these resources are protected under this rule,” said Hartline.
Opening the land to development could permanently alter them. Supporters of the rule argue it could boost local economies through logging, but Hartline said the minimal boost isn’t worth the damage.
“From the ecological standpoint these untouched lands from the last 102 years are being impacted. These are some unique forest or wetlands that have the possibility of being affected in pretty negative ways in terms of pollution, fragmentation and erosion.”
Hartline said the damage doesn’t end there.
“From a cultural standpoint, some of these lands could be ancestral homelands or spiritual areas and there could be burial grounds,” said Hartline.
Another challenge was the lack of communication to discuss the repeal of the roadless rule. “There was no consultation from the federal government to the tribal governments, which is a huge step back. It’s almost a violation of the federal responsibilities to trust,” said Hartline. “There is supposed to be that government-to-government consultation for things like this and there wasn’t.”
The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians said they will meet next month to discuss steps they may take to prevent the repeal of the roadless rule.