Chainsaws and closed signs

The impact on Minnesota’s state parks from proposed deep budget cuts is quickly becoming clear and Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota has been alerting the public through the media.

The Legislature’s proposed cuts of at least 15 percent will result in “mothballing of 14 to 26 parks” across the state this summer, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Landwehr testified.

That means at the height of summer, when families want to be out hiking in the woods or prairies, swimming in the lakes or rivers or camping out at night, they may very well run into a “closed” sign.

Those deep cuts are leading to ideas that not only are bad for the parks, but contradict the very clear statement the voters made two years ago. The people of Minnesota said they want Minnesota’s great outdoors protected and preserved.

So, when the Legislature considers a bill that would allow chainsaws, feller bunchers and skidders to go crashing through the state parks to cut down Black Walnut trees, that violates the spirit of Minnesotans and probably the letter of Minnesota law which says “state parks shall be administered…to preserve, perpetuate and interpret natural features that existed…” in the parks.

“Not only is it a bad idea, it's counter-intuitive to think that we have to cut down all the trees to pay for the park,” Brett Feldman, executive director of Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota told Dennis Lien of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He made similar comments to Minneapolis Star-Tribune reporter Doug Smith.

Perhaps nothing illustrates lawmakers’ dawning realization that they can’t cut anymore without devastating affects than a recent attempt to backfill their operating cuts with funds already dedicated to building the state’s newest park. Specifically, the bill modification that would do the backfilling directs $3 million in Legislative-Citizens Commission on Minnesota Resources funds away from Lake Vermilion State Park.

Not only is it unsustainable to use one-time LCCMR funds to keep our parks open, but it is also likely not legal.

“Minnesota’s parks have been treasured by Minnesotans for generations,” Feldman said. “But it is becoming crystal clear that while previous cuts are taking their toll, additional cuts can only be made at the state’s peril.”

Other environmental groups have been speaking out, too, including Minnesota Environmental Partnership and Paul Austin of Conservation Minnesota blogged on the black walnut situation.