Access was not given to the Tribes. They already had it. The landowner never excluded Tribal folks from fishing there. She likely excluded recreational anglers because of the sheer numbers of folks going there. Plus, the area near the Bobber Hole is owned by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a Tribal In-lieu fishing site. It's maintained as mitigation for the loss of Tribal fishing sites along the Columbia River that disappeared when Bonneville Dam was built (1938). So the Tribal folks were there a long time before recreational anglers were.

There is something else I should mention.......

Last time I talked with Lonna, she and I were standing on the border of her property on the Wind River (about 10 years ago). She was hopping mad because a local timber company was in the process of bulldozing their way across her property to access a stand of timber they owned. They had a bulldozer, a skidder, and a couple pick-up trucks that plowed their way across her land, unannounced and without her permission. They proceeded to plow a rough road across her property just so they could access some of their timber. It was her land, but there was no notice, and no permission was ever granted. I watched them do it. I was appalled. I still am.

Notice that it was NOT the Tribes who were trespassing across her land, tearing it up, and disrespecting her rights as a landowner. It was a local timber company.

Remember that recreational anglers are overwhelmingly white males (such as me). So were the folks driving those machines across her land. I know it's wrong to assume guilt-by-association. But I can see her point. So if you're upset because the Tribal folks retain access to the lower Wind River while some of us are denied, put yourself in her shoes. I don't like it either but I understand her concern.