Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Law Library
Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Code.

Section ENV.04.41 — Lakeshore Management

(a) A permit is required by any person who proposes to do any work which will alter or diminish the course, current, or cross sectional area of a lake or its lakeshore. Without limitation, the following activities are, when conducted below mean annual high water elevation, examples of work for which a permit is required. Construction of channels and ditches; dredging of lake bottom areas to remove muck, silt, or weeds; lagooning; filling; constructing breakwaters or pilings, wharves, and docks.

(b) Any person proposing work within a lakeshore area shall submit a work plan to the Tribal Council for their review. The Tribal Council will make the final decision on whether or not and how any work is accomplished, with the aid of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs where appropriate. Factors to be considered during the review process are that the work will not, during either its construction or utilization:

(1) materially diminish water quality;

(2) materially diminish habitat for fish or wildlife;

(3) interfere with navigation or other lawful recreation;

(4) create a public nuisance;

(5) create a visual impact discordant with natural scenic values, as determined by the Tribal Council, where such values form the predominant landscape elements; or

(6) materially impair cultural or traditional uses of lakes and lakeshore areas.

(c) A person who performs work in a lake without a permit for that work shall, if required by the Tribal Council, restore the lake to its condition before it was disturbed, and is subject to the provisions for violations, remedies, and penalties under this Article as contained in Section ENV.04.36 et seq.