The legal proceedings between the Lac Courte Oreilles Indian tribe, represented by Larry Leventhal and others, and the Northern States Power Company (NSP) in the 1970s to 1980s were based on a 50 year license granted to the power company (at that time the Wisconsin-Minnesota Light and Power Company) by the Federal Power Commission in 1921. License 108 allowed the power company to build a dam near Winter, Wisconsin that flooded portions of the Lac Courte Oreilles reservation land even though the tribe opposed the project. After the dam was constructed, the tribe lost a town, residential housing, rice fields and burial grounds due to flooding. When the license came up for renewal in 1971, the Lac Courte Oreilles fought the renewal by citing the Reorganization Act of 1934 which allowed tribes to regulate the use of reservation land. The tribe argued that they never agreed to the construction of the dam and when Project 108 was licensed regardless of tribal objections the company had failed in several stipulations, such as replacing the wild rice, which which were required in the initial license. As NSP pursued license renewal, the Lac Courte Oreilles tribe filed a lawsuit against the company demanding that the national government "reclaim" the project and give control of reservation land back to the tribes. Larry Leventhal of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was one of the lawyers hired by the tribe. Public and formal hearings were held by the FPC in August 1973, but no official decision was made. Over the couse of the next decade the legal cases continued between the tribe and the power company, while many politicians, federal organizations and environmentalists argued on behalf of the tribe. In 1984, after numerous studies on the reservation land and dam, a final settlement was reached between the tribe and the power company. The lease on the flooded land was renewed for NSP, and they were allowed 10 to 15 feet feet of draw down each year, much less than previously permitted. In return, the Lac Courte Oreilles tribe was paid $500,000 and given 3,000 acres of land (Including land adjacent to the dam) by the company. The tribe was also given the right to build a hydroelectric power plant on the land and to sell the power generated by the dam to NSP.
From the description of Larry Leventhal Lac Courte Oreilles-Northern States Power Legal papers, 1920-1986. (University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire). WorldCat record id: 501172462
