Too bad Ned didn't have one of those little spy flies on their conference room wall. I am sure it would have been very illuminating to say the least. That said, any meeting where the decision makers are discussing issues with their legal counsel is privileged - that is, not open to the public. As frustrating as that can seem I do understand.

But what I do not understand is the failure of the Corps to simply issue the permit considering the absence of any meaningful information from the objecting tribe(s) or to hold a public meeting to explain the Corps' lack of positive action on behalf of the citizens of the U.S. keeping in mind that when the treaty was signed by the Federal representatives it was on behalf of its citizens which did not include the tribes and their citizens.

As I have opined previously this has been nothing short of a shake down (extortion) by the tribe(s) facilitated by the Corps and, frankly, purposely ignored by our own Federal legislators.