CO Greg Spaulding (boat siezed Upper Red)

[Russ-Judy]

Bagley MN news paper under article Farmer Independent paper reports a 64 year old Princeston mans boat and gear were siezed Sunday on the 28 of May on the south end of Red after crossing the line while fishing

the article is under another site I cant cut or paste from, maybe someone else can --page 13 ) under the Red Lake forum

[shakey legs 2]

Thanks Russ and judy,

I have been following the thread on the Red Lake Forum for two weeks now.  I have refrained from commenting there as some of the comments were getting a little nasty.  There is some interesting points being made.  It is a little frustrating that our government - both state and federal- haven't said anything either way.  It seems like no one wants to touch this but they need to for no other reason then someone might get hurt if this thing spirals out of control.

[JohnWester]

Boat seized by Red Lake Band
Fisherman says, ?My government is required to protect my rights?
By Tom Burford
The issue of who owns Lower Red Lake (raised by Bagley resident Greg Spaulding) continued last weekend, when a Princeton, Minn., man had his boat seized by tribal authorities on Lower Red Lake on Sunday, May 28.
The boat owner, Jerome Muller, 64, of Princeton, Minn., was fishing on Upper Red Lake after embarking from Roger?s Resort on the south shore. He said he likes to get away from the crowd while fishing, but he accidentally crossed over the invisible boundary between Upper and Lower Red Lake.
He said two tribal officers approached him in a boat. The officers took the boat and tackle and left Muller and his son-in-law, Jon Hemstad of Blaine, Minn., with only their thermos and lunch. One of the two Red Lake officers took control of their boat, while the other officer drove the tribal boat with Muller and Hemstad to shore. Once on shore the two men were transported by a tribal vehicle to the main road, where another tribal vehicle escorted them to Roger?s Resort.
Muller asked how he could get his boat back, and one of the officers gave him a phone number to call.
?I can?t believe this,? he said.
?I felt I?d been kidnapped and pirates took my boat. I?m furious!?
Muller said he filed a complaint with the Beltrami County Sheriff and also with the FBI.
He said one of the Red Lake officers was a ?bitter fellow.? Mullar said he apologized for trespassing, and noted he did not trespass purposely. There are no markers on the water to indicate the boundary. Still, he said the ?bitter? officer told him, ?We?ll treat you a lot better than they treat us off the rez.? Mullar said the other officer was more civil.
He said there were two assault rifles on the floor of the tribal officers? boat. These were moved to the back of the boat, uncased, before Mullar and Hemstad were ordered into the tribal boat, where they were seated in the bow.
Mullar was raised in Blackduck and moved away many years ago, but he has fished Upper Red for many years. He said, ?There?s no way I intended to be there. I would apologize.?
?This is no way for a citizen to be treated,? he said. He said the tribal officers said they have confiscated numerous boats. ?We need to find out who else had boats confiscated,? Mullar said.
He said, ?My government is required to protect my rights.?
Whether or not Muller?s boat seizure will be the ?test case? that Bagley?s Greg Spaulding has been seeking is yet to be proven. Spaulding has argued that the Red Lake Band does not own or control Lower Red Lake. He has cited two Supreme Court cases and the treaty with the Red Lake Band to argue his point. Spaulding said he began his questioning of the Lower Red Lake ownership after the Red Lake Band seized an airplane there in 2002.
The Red Lake tribal chairman responded by sending a letter to the Minnesota DNR commissioner demanding that Spaulding be fired from his position as a Minnesota DNR conservation officer.
A call from this newspaper to the Red Lake conservation department on Tuesday, May 30, did not yield any results, as the person to speak with was absent.

[Outdoors Junkie]

Has anyone heard any update on this story?

[jigglestick]

I have heard little bits and I will get into it a bit later on. right now I have to go to walker to pick up my son.
hmmm...walker, isn't that where reeds is? 8)

[Outdoors Junkie]

What's the update Jiggle?

[pointblank]

I have some background to this story.
  Greg  was the local CO in the Waskish area around 20 years ago. He served the area for about 5-6 years. In his service he was very closely monitoring the RedLake bands activities off the reservation.

 Greg had found some of the RedLake Band members in violation of the fish and game regs while they were off the res. Fines and seizers went the normal course while the band members planned some revenge.  The band members got the revenge they wnated when they got Greg alone near the res lines and held him aginst his will.  Mr. Spaulding spent several hours ijn the care of the Bands members and once released he need medical assistance to remove a small walleye from his seat area.
 
 This was back in the 80's  that the band members and Greg have had clashes. The latest is no more or no less the counter of Spaulding Vs. the RedLake band.

 Kinda funny how things keep going.

[jigglestick]

kinda funny how we have heard this story about every conservation officer in the state.
I myself have heard it with three different officers. this makes four.
thanks for your insight.

[pointblank]

All you got to do is check the local news.  It's no secret.

[jigglestick]

your the one who put it out there, now prove it or shut up.

[WoodChuck]

 ??? :-\ question, why are those darn fish never stuck out in wyoming??

[Bufflehead]

 If there where as many Walleyes stuck in the butts of C.O.'s as I have heard about.

There wouldn't be a Walleye left in minnesota

 I? have NEVER! seen any proof that even one case of this ever happened.

 but, who would want or much less let this kind of info out to the public?

 can you say NOBODY?

 I thought you could LOL!!

[HUNTER2]

Ive heard of a person being stuck up before, buts thats ridiculous