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June 10, 2002S. Fox owner files suit against GT BandJohnson disputes tribal claims, wants swap to go onBy BILL O'BRIENRecord-Eagle staff writer LELAND - The owner of private lands on South Fox Island has filed a counter-suit against the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, claiming the tribe has acted in "bad faith" trying to nix a proposed land exchange with the state. Mirada Ranch Inc., a company owned by David Johnson of Southfield who owns much of South Fox Island, has filed the four-count action against the tribe and the Michigan Land Use Institute. The tribe and the environmental group earlier had sued Johnson and the state Department of Natural Resources over the proposed property exchange on the island. The litigation is the latest development in years of wrangling over the controversial land swap. A hearing is set for June 24 in Leland before Circuit Judge Thomas G. Power. Johnson and the DNR had proposed exchanging 219 acres on the island to eliminate the checkerboard pattern of private and public lands on South Fox. Johnson has said it creates problems with trespassing by hunters on his land, while the DNR supports the exchange saying it will make for more-efficient management of the public lands. Opponents include the tribe, which says there are treaty claims to some of Johnson's land, and the institute and other environmentalists, who believe the public is losing pristine property in the deal. Johnson owns some 2,180 acres on the island, while the other 1,251 acres is state land. The latest exchange plan, approved by the state in November, would give Johnson land in the western-central section of the island while the state would get an equal amount of land on the northern third of the island. The tribe filed suit to block the exchange just after Christmas, claiming the DNR did not follow proper procedures in drawing up the suit. The Michigan Land Use Institute based in Benzonia later joined the litigation, claiming the state "short-circuited" the state and federal review process, including the lack of a completed environmental impact statement on the possible effects of the trade. The source of Johnson's counter-claim are affidavits filed by tribal attorneys with the Leelanau County register of deeds office, claiming that area Indian families may have unresolved treaty land claims for some of the properties proposed in the swap. The affidavits were followed by a "notice of lis pendens" - a legal notice recorded on property deeds to show that there is pending litigation over the land - filed by the band that effectively has clouded Johnson's title to the property. Because of those actions, state Attorney General Jennifer Granholm in early April informed the DNR that Johnson "does not hold marketable title" to the private lands on the island. She said her office would not certify the swap until the liens were "discharged" from county property, although Granholm said she had "no opinion" about whether the tribe's adverse claims were valid. Johnson's counter-suit claims that the affidavits and lis pendens were "improperly recorded in bad faith as a strategem to interfere with, delay, and/or prevent the exchange ... ." The action claims that the tribe's affidavits fail to identify the tribal members with "an alleged adverse claim to title" and that those tribal families were not plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed against the DNR and Johnson. Mirada Ranch is asking that the affidavits and lis pendens be dismissed by the court so the exchange can go ahead. Tribal officials would not comment publicly on the counter-suit when contacted Friday afternoon. One official said the band can identify by name tribal families that may have unresolved land claims involving South Fox, and that the information is part of the public record. "This is not a spurious action. ... We have substantial interest in making these claims," the official said. The witness list submitted by the tribe and the state for the June 24 hearing includes several high-ranking officials in the state and tribal governments, including Gov. John Engler, DNR director K.L. Cool and tribal Chairman Robert Kewaygoshkum. Bill O'Brien can be reached at (231) 933-1477 or bobrien@record-eagle.com |
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