Consent decree court hearing today

[EdB]

Update on proposed consent decree court proceedings today: An update hearing was held at Federal Court in Kalamazoo today. As this was a public hearing we had a member of our board attend to collect some first hand information. Also we wanted to show public support for The Coalition to Protect Michigan Resources who have been fighting for the interests of recreational anglers in these negotiations when they are allowed. The main reason for the hearing was to set dates to submit objections to the proposed decree which has been set for Jan 20 2023. However there were some interesting takeaways from the meeting. #1 For the first time the lawyer for the CPMR was allowed to sit amongst the other lawyers instead of in the gallery and was able to address the judge during the hearings. This hopefully shows a future willingness to give weight to the CPMR's concerns without having to run them through the state. #2 The Sault tribe continues to put forth that they do not consent to the decree. Their position is that the 2000 decree has expired and they are no longer held to any obligations associated with it. Their desire is to regulate themselves and to fish without any regulations brought by the State of Michigan or other tribes. They have filed 1 motion and will be filing another by Dec 27 detailing these legal arguments. Objections to those motions by the other parties will also be heard on Jan 20. GLSI will continue to attend any public court proceedings and update our membership as they happen. Picture of the Federal Court in Kalamazoo