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Duluth, Minn. (AP)

NE Minn. county tries to block tribal land buyback

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St. Louis County is trying to block efforts by an American Indian band to buy back land on its reservation. That land would then become exempt from local property taxes.

Officials of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have made two requests through the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs to place two parcels of private land in federal trust. The land totals about 113 acres.

County Board Chairman Dennis Fink opposes the tax-exempt trust status. Fink says in tough economic times, the county and school districts need as much land on the tax rolls as possible.

But Commissioner Steve O'Neil says the band has the right to rebuild its original reservation, and the land in question is "minuscule" compared with the size of the northeastern Minnesota county.

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Information from: Duluth News Tribune, http://www.duluthsuperior.com