Michigan governor opposes KBIC land-into-trust application

Friday, January 18, 2013  

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) is opposing the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community land-into-trust application.

The tribe plans to use a small property in Marquette Township for a gas station. Snyder's office claims the business could be "unlawful" and offer "an unfair commercial advantage over surrounding competitors," The Marquette Mining Journal reported.

"Moreover, this land is located more than an hour from the tribe's reservation," Snyder's office said in a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. "This land will not enhance the tribe's reservation or facilitate economic development."

The Journal wrote an editorial last summer in support of the tribe's application and accused non-Indian gas station owners of gouging consumers.

Get the Story:
Gov.’s office against tribal gas station (The Marquette Mining Journal 1/17)
Governor Snyder's office opposes Keweenaw Bay Indian Comm. gas station (Upper Michigan's Source 1/17)

Gas station executive calls Michigan tribe 'thieves' and 'felons' (6/14)