Public Split Over Plan For Dock Fees Cda Tribe Hears Opinions On Lake Management

A polite crowd - but one largely disgruntled by the prospect of higher dock lease fees - attended the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s public hearing on lake management Tuesday evening.

Two hundred people attended the meeting in the bingo hall of the tribe’s casino. Tribal officials were gathering final comment on their plans to manage the southern third of Lake Coeur d’Alene and the last 20 miles of the St. Joe River. Last year, a federal judge confirmed Indian ownership of those waters.

The tribal council expects to finalize its rules in the next two weeks. In general, the tribe says it will favor public use and access and discourage further private development.

Tribal attorney Ray Givens said 300 to 400 waterfront property owners would be affected. They were well-represented Tuesday.

Accustomed to being charged nothing by the state to have a small family dock on Lake Coeur d’Alene, one audience member called a proposed $100 annual lease “outrageous” and suggested $25 instead.

At the urging of another man, Byron Adams of Moscow, tribal council Vice Chairman Chuck Matheson asked for a show of hands on how many thought $100 was too much. Many in the crowd of 200 raised their hands. But no one appeared to do so when Matheson asked how many thought $100 was “adequate.”

Later, Conklin Park property owner Joe Clark was applauded when he said that the tribe was giving lake dwellers an opportunity for improved management that people at the north end of the lake aren’t getting.

“A hundred dollars a slip is not unreasonable based on what they’re doing across the nation,” he said. “It could have been much higher.”

Which caused Matheson to quip: “And I didn’t offer him any money for that.”

When setting lease fees, Givens said, the tribe took into consideration ability to pay. It considered the $100,000 lots and $700,000 homes and pricey boats that people are willing to pay for. Still, he said, the leases - as well as tribal boat and fishing licenses - will cost less than the tribe will need to provide law enforcement, environmental protection and other services.

“If we tried to make fees pay the full cost, it would price everybody out of using the lake. So, a balance was struck,” he said, adding that “it is more than the state is charging in some areas.”

Also discussed at the meeting:

The tribe’s plan to enforce its rules between the old high-water mark (2,121 feet above sea level) and the current summer lake level (2,128 feet). Givens said the tribe owned that 7 feet of land at the time of the treaty, before the land was submerged, and that recent court decisions have supported management of the water by the responsible agency regardless of how high the level rises.

The five-person lake management board that the tribal council will appoint. Matheson said that the Kootenai County and Benewah County commissioners will be asked to choose one of the two nontribal members; the other will be appointed from the lakeside community at large.

The loss of property value for those people who own undeveloped waterfront property, should the tribe be unwilling to allow more private docks to be built. Matheson promised consideration would be given to that.

NUMBERS TO COMMENT Here’s who to contact at the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s Plummer offices with questions about water management issues: Fishing: Kelly Lillengreen, director of the Fish and Wildlife Department, 686-6803, fax 686-3021. Boating: Harold Scott, chief of police, 686-1742, fax 686-1815. Docks: Alfred Nomee, director of the Natural Resources Department, 686-1009, fax 686-1088.