Trapped In Their Neighborhood

I watched part of a video the other day on the issue of whether you would be able to bug out after a SHTF event because of being trapped in your neighborhood. The video suggested that you may need to have alternate routes out. It reminded me of how, as Katrina bore down on New Orleans, some of the surrounding communities shut down bridges or roads leading to or through their communities to people attempting to flee from New Orleans. But an ongoing situation in Wisconsin also bears on this topic.

    The Federalist reports that the "Wisconsin Indian Hostage Crisis Teeters On Violence Because Biden, Tony Evers Do Nothing." From the article:

    The ongoing hostage crisis in Lac Du Flambeau, Wisconsin, has entered week six, and two people with the power to stop it — President Joe Biden and Gov. Tony Evers — refuse to act. 

    Some 65 non-tribal Wisconsinites cannot enter or leave their homes due to barricades erected by the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. According to Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, the barricades are illegal because the closed roads receive public funding.

    For over a month, the only way non-tribal residents have been able to leave the reservation is by crossing frozen lakes, which are quickly melting with spring. Racial tensions and the threat of violence are also rising as the residents grow desperate, the tribe refuses to negotiate, and the government ignores the crisis.

As the article explains, and like many other Indian tribes, tribal land has over the years been sold off to non-tribal members. Such is the case here where there is a patch work of tribal land and private lots. Unfortunately, the roads to some of the privately owned land crosses tribal lands. The tribe claims that the road easements expired over a decade ago and have blocked the roads until they are paid to extend the duration of the easements. Per the article:

With the easements long expired, tribal President John Johnson has closed the roads and is demanding $20 million from two title companies to reopen them for only 15 years. Residents, the title company, and the town say the easements are not worth $20 million.

 The article also relates:

    It’s worth noting many residents told The Federalist that prior to the barricades, the tribe had not been maintaining the roads despite receiving public funding to do so since at least 2018. Instead, the town, or in some cases the residents themselves, have been paying for the upkeep. The Federalist reached out to the town for confirmation but did not hear back. 

    What is undisputed is that the tribe is refusing to negotiate and that it receives federal funding from the Tribal Transportation Program, which Tiffany and the landowners maintain makes the blockades unlawful.

    For the trapped residents, some relief, albeit temporary, is in sight. The Green Bay Press Gazette reported a couple days ago that "Lac du Flambeau tribe to reopen barricaded roads in northern Wisconsin as temporary agreement reached." The article relates:

Town officials held a special meeting March 11 and accepted the tribe’s offer to remove the barricades for 90 days in exchange for $60,000 while negotiations for a more permanent solution continue.

That works out to $666.67 per day of access. The article continues:

    Tribal Chairman John Johnson had previously said residents had been trespassing on the illegally built roads on tribal lands and the tribe needs to safeguard what little land it has left.

    “The barricades may be coming down temporarily, however the real work of developing a longer-term solution is just beginning,” wrote Dave Kievet, one of the affected residents.

    Many residents have been using snowmobiles to travel across woods and frozen lakes to leave their properties for supplies, but the ice will start to melt soon.

    “It is a short-term fix so we have a way out when the ice is no longer safe to cross, but it does not solve the long-term problem,” said Marti Hunt, another affected resident.