Lake Vermilion State Park closer to reality, but obstacles still remain

A tentative but crucial agreement between Minnesota state officials and U.S. Steel was reached in January, reviving hope that the newest state park at Lake Vermilion will soon become a reality. Plans for the park had stalled a little more than a year after the 2008 Legislature appropriated $20 million for land acquisition and preliminary development of the park.

Under the agreement, which the 2010 Legislature must still approve, the state would pay $18 million for 3,000 acres with five miles of shoreline. Lake Vermilion, a 40,000-acre lake, has 365 islands and offers access to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

“The Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota is pleased to learn that efforts to secure the land for the park at Lake Vermilion have resumed,” says Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota Acting Executive Director Brett Feldman. “We applaud Gov. Pawlenty and legislators on both sides of the aisle for combining their creative energies so that generations of Minnesotans may soon have an opportunity to experience one of Minnesota’s most spectacular parks."

Lake Vermilion is considered to be one of the most beautiful areas of the state, with pristine waters, breathtaking ridges overlooking the lake and forested shorelines.

DNR officials have talked about creating a park for the 21st century, with areas for tent campers, but also such amenities as internet access. Planning for the park will begin once the new agreement is finalized.

The park was proposed in 2008 by Gov. Tim Pawlenty and, after a difficult session that year, the Minnesota Legislature authorized up to $20 million in bonds to purchase the land for the park. But there was a limit under the appropriation language: The state would not be able to pay more than 12 percent above the land’s appraised value. U.S. Steel had the land appraised at $20.3 million; state appraisals were considerably less (although not made public, the state’s appraisal was thought to be between $13 and $15 million).

Negotiations for the sale bogged down over the next year and in the summer of 2009, U.S. Steel announced that it was withdrawing from negotiations and would plan to sell the property for high-end vacation homes. That seemed to be the end of the park until January 15, when Gov. Pawlenty announced the new deal with U.S. Steel.

Under the agreement, the state would pay $18 million and the $2.3 million difference between that and U.S. Steel’s appraised value of the land would be considered a donation from the corporation to the state.

The new agreement must go before the legislature, since the purchase price is higher than what the 2008 Legislature had authorized.

Pawlenty has said that if the deal is not finalized—meaning that the Minnesota Legislature has not agreed to a change in the authorizing language—by this spring, U.S. Steel plans to go ahead with its development plans.
“The representatives from U.S. Steel made it very clear that if we can’t get this transaction consummated they’re going to begin developing the property this summer,” he said. “So, if we don’t get this done this spring, you’ll see bulldozers and the beginning of a residential housing project be developed on that land.”

St. Louis County already has approved the first phase of a private development for the land, which was planned to begin this spring. Some local leaders and residents of the area are in favor of the development rather than a park, because they believe private development would be an economic boost for the area.

If and when the purchase of the property by the state is approved, planning and environmental assessment of the area will begin. The $20 million that was authorized in 2008 will be used for both land acquisition and development of a master plan for the park, but additional funding will be needed to establish park facilities and, ultimately, to maintain and manage the park.

The Star Tribune published an editorial in support of the park. See http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/82305247.html?elr=KArksc8P:Pc:UUULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr