Ownership of the historically significant Susie Island has been transferred from the Nature Conservancy to the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Tribal Chair Norman Deschampe said the band intends to preserve Susie Island as a permanent, undeveloped natural area.
“It’s a good day for us,” said Grand Portage Tribal Council Chairman Norman Deschampe to the Cook County Board of Commissioners at their March 8 county board meeting.
What Deschampe was referring to was the process to transfer the 142.09-acre Susie Island from the Nature Conservancy to the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
Located about one mile off shore in an archipelago of Lake Superior islands owned by the band, Susie Island has “historically been very significant to our community,” said Deschampe.
“The Nature Conservancy and the band believe that this conveyance is a positive step for conservation management of Susie Island and does not present adverse consequences for Cook County,” said Jim Manolis, forest conservation program director for the conservancy.
Once the procedural work is done, the island will return to the band, ending, said Deschampe, more than a 30-year attempt to get it back into the care and ownership of the Grand Portage Band.
For the last 25 years the Nature Conservancy has owned Susie Island and nearby “Island One.” The Conservancy spent 18 years— from 1973 to 1991—to acquire six tracts of land, which makes up the island’s 142 acres, and during that time also acquired the 3.78-acre Island One, the Conservancy has also offered to the band, said Manolis.
Manolis and Gail Lewellan, senior attorney for the conservancy appeared before the county board with April McCormick of Grand Portage, Cook County Assessor Betty Schultz and Deschampe.
Due to the island’s remote location, the conservancy believes Susie Island would be better managed by Grand Portage, which has “a strong conservation emphasis and a strong local presence, “ said Manolis.
The conservancy’s nearest employee lives in Duluth, said Manolis, and the conservancy doesn’t even own a boat, so when the island needs to checked, one has to be borrowed from the band.
“We believe the band is the appropriate entity to own and manage this island within the reservation, and that the island’s conservation value will be protected by the tribal management following the model they use on nearby islands,” he said.
“The mission of the Nature Conservancy is to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. The conservancy works in all 50 states and in more than 30 countries. Science drives the conservancy’s work, and we pursue non-confrontational, pragmatic solutions to conservation challenges,” said Manolis.
The islands in the archipelago are home to a unique plant community that lives in conditions that are cooler and wetter than weather conditions on the nearby mainland. “Species that disappeared from the rest of Minnesota after the glaciers receded northward still survive here,” said Manolis. “Today, many of these plants are more typically found in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. In addition, the island’s sheer cliffs, rocky promontories and poor soils are inhospitable for many plants. This cloud forest environment supports a rich variety of mosses and lichens, and a blanket of sphagnum mosses one to three feet thick has spread over much of the island. The conservancy acquired the island in recognition of these unique characteristics. We believe that the Grand Portage Band will preserve these qualities.”
Under the agreement, no development will occur on Susie Island. The Band intends to preserve Susie Island as a permanent, undeveloped natural area. To that end, Deschampe said he wanted the island to remain in its pristine condition for his children and their children’s children.
In a separate matter, County Assessor Betty Schultz told the board that six tracts of privately owned land within the reservation were acquired by the United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs and will be held in trust for the benefit of Grand Portage Band. These parcels generated little tax for the county, and now will go off the tax rolls. Deschampe said this was part of a process by the Band to reacquire all of its land within the reservation’s boundaries. Currently, he said, the band owns 98 percent of the land on the reservation.
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