BWCA Trust Lands exchange

[Lee Borgersen]

     


Letter sent from Conservationists With Common Sense (CWCS) to:

Thomas M. Bakk


Majority Leader


MN State Senate





 

  ........
The state constitution provides an allowance that the land can be condemned and then purchased.  That is what happened in the case of voyagers national park

This is irrelevant. The State land that was condemned to create Voyageurs Nat'l Park was not in wilderness.






There are over 86,000 acres of School Trust Lands in the Boundary Waters in St. Louis, Lake and Cook Counties. The Forest service wants to exchange 30,000 acres and purchase the remaining 56,000 acres.  As stated in the 1964 Wilderness Act, State-owned or privately owned land that is surrounded by wilderness shall be exchanged for federally owned land of equal value.



 

Reading the 1964 Wilderness Act - doesn't mention School Trust Lands. Only state owned lands, which would mean the feds cannot purchase any state owned land, School Trust Lands or otherwise. State lands must be exchanged.

 

From the background of this whole School Trust Land exchange, in 2010, the Minnesota Legislature's Permanent School Trust Fund Advisory Committee appointed a working group to develop a strategy to meet the land management goals of both the State and Forest Service regarding school trust lands in the BWCAW. The working group included interested stakeholders from education, environmental groups, timber industry, mining interests, and local government.

. The working group recommended a "hybrid" approach to a land transfer involving approximately one third land exchange and two thirds land purchase. The working group identified candidate parcels of National Forest System Lands within the Superior National Forest, located outside of the BWCAW, to consider for the land exchange.

The Advisory Committee and the working group (CWCS was not contacted to participate) did a poor job in that they did not look at federal wilderness law. State land in wilderness is not to be purchased.

1964 Wilderness Act:

STATE AND PRIVATE LANDS WITHIN WILDERNESS AREAS

   SECTION 5. (a) In any case where State-owned or privately owned land is completely surrounded by national forest lands within areas designated by this Act as wilderness, such State or private owners shall be given such rights as may be necessary to assure adequate access to such State-owned or privately owned land by such State or private owner and their successors in interest, or the State-owned land or privately owned land shall be exchanged for federally owned land in the same State of approximately equal value under authorities available to the Secretary of Agriculture

Proud Member of the CWCS. 
http://www.cwcs.org