Public Safety Division
The Public Safety Director currently supervises these departments: Mohican Nation Police, Community Volunteer Fire Department, EMS, Environmental and Conservation. The departments are made up of many workers that enjoy their jobs very much.
The Stockbridge-Munsee Indian Tribe currently has a cooperative law enforcement agreement with Shawano County, as well as contracts with Gresham and Bowler to provide Law Enforcement services. The three deputies and investigator as well as the Police School Liaison the Tribe has are deputized by Shawano County and are Wisconsin State Certified Law Enforcement Officers. The public safety director spends most of his time with the Public Safety Responsibilities although he has the ability to act as one of the Tribal Deputies. He has been able to respond to handle various complaints. Public Safety can be reached by calling 715-793-4809 or in case of an emergency dial 911.
Public Safety also has the Community Volunteer Fire Department, which has 17 members. The Fire Department covers any structural, auto or wild land fires in the Stockbridge area. The volunteer’s of the fire department attend training from once to ten times a year. The volunteers carry a radio as well as a pager so they can be reached in case of a fire. The fire department has six fire trucks including a six wheeler for brush fire. All volunteer firefighters have access to the fire department in case of a fire. Currently the fire fighters are working out a system to assure that there will be better coverage during the high risk-burning season.
The Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Environmental Department has many duties and responsibilities. Overall, the position in the Tribal structure as preserving the natural resources in a pristine condition for the next seven generations. Working with our forestry and conservation committees and with other tribal departments, we strive to protect, maintain and where necessary, improve the health of the natural environment within the reservation. This must be seen as doing more than maintaining the waters in a condition that allows fishing trout and maintaining the forest for timber harvest and the hunting of deer. We must take notice of all the creatures that depend upon these resources; whether or not they are of economic or recreational value to us.
Most people remember what the forest and rivers were like in their childhood and they believe that is the way the forest and rivers should be. However, that is often not the case. If the people of seven generations ago would look at the reservation now, would they approve of our stewardship of the land? Could they even recognize the land? What will the people seven generations from now see? The land has suffered change through many generations. Land and water that cannot sustain the creatures that go un-noticed by the average person, will not sustain the species that we seek in our fishing, hunting or gathering. Who among us takes notice of the salamanders, the slugs, or the purple-fringed orchids? Is the diminutive deer mouse as important as the deer? Is a minnow as important as the trout? Do we desire the cardinals at our window while we despise the blackbirds? Many people noticed only a fraction of the life around them, and of what they do see they divide into the ‘good' and the ‘bad’. Within the environmental department we do not ask that you love wood ticks or snakes, but we do ask that you recognize and respect that they are as much a part of the creator's plan and a part of the resources as those things you do love.
Our goal in the Environmental Department is to research what our reservation was like seven generations ago, and by using education, laws and wise management tools, insuring that in seven generations the land will be like it was in the past. The Environmental Department must take into consideration the growing needs of an expanding community and balance those with the need to maintain the natural environment. We view this as not only including our responsibility to the resources within the reservation, but also our responsibility of being a good national and global partner with all people and all nations in resource protection.
Thus, as the department grows we will be looking towards projects that not only protect and enhance the natural resources of the reservation, but also assist tribal members in living a life that reduces our demands on the natural resources of the rest of the world. We should not preserve our own natural resources only to depend upon and overuse resources from the rest of the world. We must live lightly on the earth, use less, give more, and live a life that allows the next seven generations sustaining them.
The Stockbridge-Munsee Community operates a Conservation Department to protect and enhance their Natural Resources. The Department currently employs two Conservation Wardens. The Conservation Department along with the Conservation Committee has come a long way and helped create Tribal Ordinance Chapters 20 and 21, which specifically address hunting and fishing regulations. The Conservation Wardens primary responsibility is the enforcement of the Conservation Code. This is done by general patrol, response to issues and complaints, and problem solving with the day-to-day issues they encounter. The Conservation Department along with the Conservation Committee are constantly searching for better ways to enhance our Natural Resources so the Community can enjoy them while protecting them. The Stockbridge-Munsee Community recently was awarded a 3-year U.S. Fish and Wildlife Tribal Wildlife Grant. The grant was written to hire a Wildlife Biologist who will assist with the development of a Tribal Wildlife Management Plan. The Wildlife Biologist works closely with the Conservation, Environmental, Forestry and Land Management departments and gathers the necessary wildlife information for the management plan. If you have any questions in regards to hunting, fishing or wildlife stop in at their office which is located at W12991 County Trunk A (Old Herman House). The Conservation Department shares their building with the Environmental and Forestry Departments. Their phone number is (715) 793-4364