When the federal government designated the million-acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in 1964, there were 83,000 acres of land inside its border owned by the state of Minnesota. The lands were designated to generate revenue for the state school system — over the years, other school trust lands across the state have been sold off or managed to provide funding.
In the BWCAW, they are still owned by the state, but managed as wilderness, off-limits to resource extraction or other revenue-generating activities. Multiple interests have haggled over how to best overcome the obstacle ever since they were first included in the wilderness.
Conservation groups have pushed for a simple sale, in which the federal government would pay the state cash for the lands. The money could be invested to generate returns for schools. Other groups have pushed for an exchange, in which the state would acquire National Forest land outside the wilderness, making it possible to log, mine, or otherwise produce profits on the non-wilderness land.
With those groups and numerous government agencies involved, resolution has been elusive. Finally, after the state legislature approved a framework in 2012, and other important steps, a three-part plan is moving forward.
Eight thousand acres acquired
Now, for the first time, concrete steps have been taken to move forward with a proposal. The private non-profit organization The Conservation Fund, working with the Forest Service and the Department of Natural Resources, has purchased 8,000 acres of land throughout northern Minnesota, outside the wilderness, which will ultimately be transferred to the state.
“This is essentially the beginning of a new era when the state’s public schools will be able to finally obtain financial support from what was previously a non-performing asset,” said Steve Hobbs, Minnesota State Director for The Conservation Fund. “Additionally, the Boundary Waters, so treasured by Minnesotans, will no longer have scattered and unprotected land and waters that threaten its integrity as one of the world’s last great wild places. We thank U.S. Senators Klobuchar and Smith and U.S. Representatives Nolan and McCollum for their leadership in support of this important project.”
Purchasing the land is the first part of a three-part plan. The group will next trade the lands it purchased to the state of Minnesota for school trust lands in the BWCAW. Finally, the Conservation Fund will sell the former school trust lands to the U.S. Forest Service for incorporation into the BWCAW. The recent federal spending bill included a $4 million appropriation for the Forest Service to purchase the BWCAW lands from the Conservation Fund. Additional funding will come from the Acres of America program, a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation fund supported by Walmart.
The Forest Service is also working to identify 31,000 acres of federal land outside the wilderness that it will trade to the state for more school trust lands inside the Boundary Waters. The federal government intends to pay the state for the remaining 50,000 acres of school trust lands in the wilderness — an expected cost of about $50 million. No funds have yet been appropriated for that purpose.
A final Forest Service environmental impact statement on the land swap will be ready later this year that could identify the specific parcels to be traded to the state.
Learn more:
- School Trust Land Exchange environmental review, Superior National Forest,
- Boundary Waters Land Sale & Exchange, Minnesota DNR
- Solution to Resolve Decades-old Dispute in Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Launches, The Conservation Fund