Chief Judge Richard Enslen this week delayed the trial to August 2000, giving mediator John Bickerman more time to negotiate an agreement between the state and five Indian tribes involved in the case. May. The tribes and state are trying to develop a replacement for a tribal fishing policy that has stood since 1985, when Enslen approved a consent decree that temporarily settled a lawsuit filed 12 years earlier. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. The state and the tribes must resolve issues ranging from the size of Indian fishing waters to how long the new agreement should last. One particularly contentious issue is the use of gill nets, which the tribes say is their right based upon an 1836 treaty with the federal government.
Recreational fishermen say the nets harm their fisheries.
The Associated Press. The agreement is the second such water compact among Montana, the federal government and an American Indian tribe. The Northern Cheyenne Tribe already has its agreement. The Legislature earlier this year endorsed a compact with the Crow Tribe that is awaiting federal approval. The signing completes eight years of negotiations that involved the U.S. Department of the Interior.