Leelanau County residents with a deep and abiding interest in hunting and fishing are expressing mixed emotions about a new inland hunting and fishing deal negotiated recently between several Indian tribes and the state of Michigan.

In addition to serving as a Leelanau County Commissioner, Will Bunek of Suttons Bay is also the head of a local hunting group, Leelanau Whitetails. As the District No. 3 commissioner, Bunek counts members of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians who reside on the reservation in Suttons Bay Township as his constituents.

“The tribe has always been a good steward of the land,” Bunek said, “and I’m glad that the 1836 treaty has been clarified so that there are no more rumors out there about what people are and are not allowed to do.”

Bunek said the state and the five Michigan Indian tribes affected by the historic treaty avoided a potentially lengthy and contentious court battle.

“Nobody gains when the issue goes to court,” Bunek said.

On the other hand, “I feel as if I am a Native American myself. I was born and raised here just like my neighbors in Peshawbestown, and I don’t like it when different rules are applied to different groups of Americans.”

Bunek said he firmly believes in living by the rules, however, and trusts that tribal members will as well.

“There are not so many tribal members out there hunting and fishing that it will be much of a problem, I think,” Bunek said.

Greg Julian, head of the Cedar Rod and Gun Club, agreed.

“We’re obligated to honor the treaties with the tribes, and I believe we should be content with the outcome of the recent negotiations,” Julian said. “Hunting and fishing is primarily a recreational pastime for tribal members just like it is for the rest of us.

It’s highly regulated both by the state and the tribes, and it will remain highly regulated,” he said.

But Julian, too, said he was frustrated by the double-standard imposed on hunters and anglers based entirely on whether they have sufficient Indian “blood quantum” to qualify for membership in the local Indian tribe.

“It’s unfortunate that we can’t all just go by the same rules,” Julian said. “The one thing I don’t like about the new agreement is that it deliberately separates people into different ethnic groups. That just doesn’t sit well with me.”

Members of both the Glen Lake Association and the Lake Leelanau Lake Association said they had not yet had enough time to study the new hunting and fishing deal between the tribe and the state.

Pete Taylor chairs the Lake Leelanau association’s fishing committee.

“Obviously, we’d be concerned about netting fish in Lake Leelanau,” Taylor said, “but on a positive note, it’s clear that no commercial netting will be allowed in the lake.”

Taylor said he was adopting a “wait and see” attitude, but that his initial impression of the state’s agreement with the tribes was “that it was a good compromise that has the potential to work for everybody.”