Start with the locale’s rock, wetlands, and topography; add an adjoining state park; then throw in the wishes of local residents and it’s no wonder Lake Vermilion State Park, the first new Minnesota State Park in more than three decades, poses a developmental challenge to DNR planners.
As the Timberjay reported HERE recently, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources development specialist Larry Peterson said his agency prefers siting the park’s main developments on the eastern side of the property near Armstrong Bay. Local officials, however prefer that park infrastructure be centered on the western side of the parcel, closer to the town of Soudan, MN.
DNR officials say the eastern side of the park has better soils for development and waste water treatment. Locals say the infrastructure already in place in and around Soudan makes the western end of the parcel a better fit for the park’s main amenities.
The State of Minnesota bought the 3,000-acre tract for Lake Vermilion State Park from the U.S. Steel Corporation earlier this year.
The Minnesota DNR has a web page devoted to the proposed park HERE.