Might a deal between the State of Minnesota and the federal government be in the making to transfer State-owned land within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to the feds?
According to THIS short piece in the Grand Rapids Herald-Review, preparations for such a transfer are in the early stages of development in St. Paul. The state is eager to resolve the issue of state land in the BWCAW in a period of budget constraints.
A sidebar story to THIS article in the ABC Newspapers, which quotes DFL State Senator Tom Saxhaug, who serves on the Senate natural resources and education committees, and former DNR Commissioner Gene Merriam, suggests resolution of the matter will be slow in coming.
The State of Minnesota holds roughly 86,000 acres of land in the federally administered BWCAW.
For more information: http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/superior/bwcaw/