MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A northern Wisconsin town has paid an American Indian tribe $24,000 to keep reservation roads open to the public through mid-August. The town of Lac Du Flambeau’s easements on 1.25 miles of Lac Du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s reservation roads expired about a decade ago. Negotiations to renew them have failed. The tribe barricaded the roads in January, preventing non-tribal property owners from accessing or leaving their homes except to buy food. The property owners have sued the tribe in federal court and the U.S. Justice Department has sued the town alleging it’s trespassing. Tribal officials have agreed to keep the roads open as long as the town pays them thousands of dollars each month.
