A federal judge has ruled in favor Town of Lac du Flambeau and dozens of homeowners in the case regarding road easements.
Judge William Conley issued a summary judgment this week.
This is the case involving four sections of town roads that cross over tribal land. About two years ago, the United States government sued the Town of Lac du Flambeau over road easement issues.
The four roads at the center are East Ross Allen Lake Road, Annie Sunn Lane, Center Sugarbush Lane, and Elsie Lake Lane. Portions of the town roads go over tribal land and give access to private homes within the Lac du Flambeau reservation.
Ahead of the lawsuit, the Lac du Flambeau Tribe said the easements expired years ago and temporarily barricaded the roads in January 2023 when negotiations between the tribe and the town broke down.
The Tribe wanted millions of dollars in compensation for past trespasses and future easements.
The town paid $600,000, broken down in monthly installments, to the tribe to keep the roads open as they worked towards a permanent solution. In August 2024, the town announced it could no longer afford the payments and reached out to state and federal officials for support.
This week, the judge ordered that the “homeowners hold valid, enforceable easements”.
On top of that, Judge William Conley said the roads must remain open for public use as long as they are listed on the National Tribal Transportation Inventory—and the effort recently to remove them from the list was unlawful and is now void.
“Finally, neither the United States nor the Tribe have attempted to impose reasonable restrictions on the Homeowners’ or Town’s access. Instead, to date, the Tribe has attempted to block access altogether and demanded that the Town pay an exorbitant, monthly fee to keep the Roads open or a one-time $20 million fee for permanent public access. Accordingly, the court concludes that the Town and Homeowners have an implied easement to use and access the Roads to reach their homes and properties,” Conley wrote in his summary judgment.
The judgment was a relief to homeowners like Dave Miess who lives on a property that requires access through East Ross Allen Lake Road, one of the roads named in the lawsuit.
“It's going to take time, I think, to process it a little bit that this is hopefully finally over,” said Miess. “Right now, I’m very happy, and very excited to move on.”
Miess bought the property in 2020. He had no idea the easements were even in dispute until the previous homeowner came to them six weeks after closing and admitted it.
“I think this gives us now the opportunity to try to get back to normal and just living on our lake and enjoying the Northwoods without kind of having that all hanging over our heads,” said Miess.
WXPR reached out to the Town of Lac du Flambeau’s lawyer, Frank W. Kowalkowski, who provided this statement in response to the judge’s decision:
“The Town is very pleased the Court rejected all of the arguments of the United States. The Court’s Order permanently enjoining the U.S. and Tribe from blocking access to these roads restores millions of dollars of property value to the individuals who bought their properties in good faith. The decision is also financially significant for the Town. The decision restores the tax base and means the Town does not have to pay the nearly one million dollars sought by the United States in this case. The impact this decision will have on other attempts by the United States or Tribe to block roads within the Town will be significant.”
WXPR also reached out to the Lac du Flambeau Tribe for comment.
“This decision is extremely disappointing as we have been fighting this fight for many years and we do not plan on giving up the fight. We are weighing our options and remain dedicated to fighting for our treaty rights,” said Lac du Flambeau Public Relations Director Araia Breedlove.
There will be a status conference next month before entry of the final judgement.
