The tribe like anyone can be bought and the price is access to the ramp.
No one wants to hear or believe what I just typed including me but I am afraid it is true.
And this gets to the crux of the issue. Should the non-tribal citizens of the State have to pay off tribal interests for access across public property to a public waterway on the basis of a specious claim of prospective damages? I consider that to be extortion and unfortunately the Corps is facilitating it.
Can public property be considered under the same guidelines as reservation property. A whole river was commandeered and the public lost all access. So, there is no prejudice shown to the tribes in this case. All Commercial activities are prohibited by state statute, not just tribal. It's State law, as citizens of the State, they and everyone should comply.
Commandeered is a good description for the Federal action on the Skok insofar as it was the Dept. of Interior's legal opinion as to where the reservation boundary is located which caused the State's knees to buckle. One must keep in mind that the Dept. of Interior is the parent organization to the Dept. of Indian Affairs and, therefore, is not exactly perceived by many of us as having an unbiased, objective position.
The PNP debacle is driven the Corps and their unwillingness to make a decision based upon the information provided to them. Now, if that organization is willing to come out and support the tribal position that tribal rights include the ability to put a stop to any and all projects within their (tribes') U&A no matter how frivolous until and unless the permit applicant pays off the tribe(s) which is apparently the case we are screwed.
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