The State of Minnesota and Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have formalized an agreement on managing the Band’s fishing, hunting and gathering rights in portions of Carlton, Saint Louis, Lake, Cook, Pine and Aitkin counties in northern Minnesota. Officials say the practices have been in place informally for over two decades. They began after a nearly ten-year legal battle which ended in 2000 with the U-S Supreme Court affirming the rights of the Fond du Lac Band under an 1854 Treaty. The agreement just signed covers fish harvest data collection, wildlife harvest standards, moose population estimates and a process for resolving disputes.