3.04.010 Findings

The Tribal Council finds that the lands now comprising the Bad River Reservation were traditional hunting, fishing, and gathering grounds for the ancestors of the Tribe; that these lands were selected as a Reservation because of their wealth of fish, game, and wild rice; that wild rice has been a nutritional staple for members of the Tribe for generations beyond memory; that wild rice continues to provide a substantial portion of the protein and other nutritional needs of the Tribe's members; that the annual harvest of wild rice is a traditional event of long-standing cultural importance; that high unemployment and cash-poor local economy indicate that wild rice will remain critical as a food source for the Tribe's members; that one predictable source of cash income for the Tribe's members is the sale of wild rice to non-residents of the reservation; and that effective regulation of both member and non-member harvesting of wild rice is essential for the preservation of wild rice in amounts sufficient to supply the economic, nutritional, and cultural needs of the Tribe's members.