The Woodbury County, Iowa board of supervisors announced they will not take a public position on federal legislation that would transfer federally owned land, popular with local hunters, to the Winnebago Tribe. The board heard comments from supporters and those opposed to U.S. Rep. Steve King’s bill before Chairman Matthew Ung stated, “To pass a resolution to say we’ve heard from people for and against, there’s no reason to go down that road. I don’t foresee the board taking action on this.”
H.R. 3688 would transfer to the tribe 1,643 acres in two tracts along the Missouri River located near its WinnaVegas Casino in Sloan. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers currently owns the land, a popular public hunting and fishing area, managed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. King’s bill would transfer the land to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs to be held in trust for the tribe.
Tribal leaders said the land originally was part of the Winnebago Indian Reservation in Nebraska’s Thurston County before the Missouri River changed course and the land ended up on the Iowa side of the river. The Corps illegally condemned the land in the 1970s for a recreation project that never was built. Federal court rulings over the years have said the tribe failed to preserve its right to appeal and questioned if the tribe had given up its ownership rights.
Most of the local residents who spoke at the meeting voiced their concern about losing access to the land and paying higher fees for tribal hunting and fishing licenses. Bill Smith, president of the Missouri Valley Waterfowlers Association, said the courts had ruled against the tribe and the land should remain public. “This bill that Representative King has put out here basically circumvents federal law as it is today,” Smith said. Conservation board Director Rick Schneider told the supervisors that his board most likely would go on the record as opposing King’s bill.
But tribal General Counsel Danelle Smith said the tribe has its own parks department and would be willing to work with the Woodbury County Conservation Board and DNR to address concerns and manage the property. “The tribe doesn’t have any interest in affecting anybody’s ability to hunt and fish,” Smith said.
