You may have heard about the Federal Government’s purchase of a significant amount of land in the Boundary Waters. This is a complicated issue that is best explained in a blog post produced by Friends of the Boundary Waters:

In June, the Federal Government announced plans to purchase approximately 80,000 acres of School Trust Land within the Boundary Waters. This decision, reached through an agreement between the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Superior National Forest, and other agencies, marks a pivotal moment in resolving long-standing land management issues in the region.

What is School Trust Land?
School Land Trust in Minnesota refers to lands set aside in the 19th century to provide funding for public schools in the state. One of the main purposes of these lands was to generate revenue for Minnesota’s public education system through activities such as logging or mining…

READ THE REST HERE

The DFL Environmental Caucus is proud to endorse Jeanne Hendricks for Congress in Minnesota’s 6th district. Jeanne is a mom, a nurse anesthetist, and a solid DFLer running to defeat the infamous Tom Emmer in this very difficult district. Please help Jeanne out in any way you can! For instance, you can click here and make a donation. Or you can sign up to volunteer for Jeanne’s campaign.

Pictures of the Letters to the Editor in situ:

The Text:

Let me get this straight: Our legislators allocate $2.7 million for new ATV trail creation but pull language from the omnibus bill at the last minute that would protect public lands north of Hwy. 2? The “designated trails” provision removed was a small step that simply required off-road vehicles to use only posted and designated trails. It’s not a stretch — this signage requirement has existed south of Hwy. 2 for decades. Our legislators and governor should listen to retired Department of Natural Resources staff (“We, as retired DNR staff members, support trail designation,” Opinion Exchange, May 1), who spent their careers in the field, working to preserve and protect public lands. They make it clear that a designated-trails provision is urgently needed to keep riders on trails constructed for their use and out of sensitive areas. Illegally created trails further fragment wildlife habitat and increase the spread of invasive species.

Legislators, governor, DNR: Why bother creating things like a Climate Action Framework, which calls for conserving and enhancing biodiversity, if you won’t support and implement even the most commonsense habitat protections?

Libby Bent, Duluth

As a member of the public and taxpayer who quietly recreates on public lands and has seen the damage wreaked by off-highway vehicles such as ATV, I was heartened to learn of legislation that would better manage this type of “wreckcreation” (“We, as retired DNR staff members, support trail designation”). What Tuesday’s commentary did not mention are the greenhouse gas emissions associated with off highway vehicles (OHVs) and the cost to the public in terms of conservation officer time trying to manage OHV riders.

According to Minnesota Pollution Control Agency data, individual OHV greenhouse gas emissions are far greater than that of a passenger car. OHVs emit four times as many nitrogen oxides and seven times the methane emissions of a passenger car. This is significant because nitrogen oxides have 300 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide and methane has 30 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions are the largest source in Minnesota and with almost 1 million OHV registered with the DNR, their contributions to the climate crisis are significant. And, OHV riding is generally a discretionary activity.

Regarding enforcement, DNR data shows the average number of hours conservation officers expended enforcing OHV management for the years 2013-2023 is equal to 19,813 hours. That’s the equivalent of 10 staff years, 265 warnings or citations per month, or nine per day. The DNR staff time comes out of the DNR’s general fund and, of course, precludes the conservation officers from doing other important work.

HF 3911 was developed and championed by citizens concerned about the destruction of public lands, noise and the climate and extinction crises. Sadly, the trail signage provision of HF 3911, a commonsense measure to ensure OHV stay on designated trails constructed for their use, similar to hiking trail signage in state parks or other public lands, was stripped out of the omnibus bill. Apparently Rep. Dave Lislegard and Sen. Grant Hauschild care little for protecting public lands or quiet recreationists or ameliorating the climate and extinction crises.

Catherine Zimmer, St. Paul

The writer is an environmental scientist.

We have begun our endorsement process, and we have our first candidate endorsements.

Visit our 2024 Endorsements page for the complete list of endorsements so far.

Kari Rehrauer is our first Environmental Clannenger.

Congresswoman Betty McCollum, Congressional Candidate Jen Schultz, and Minnesota House Representatives Patty Acomb, Esther Agbaje, Ginny Klevorn, Jamie Long and Liz Reyer are our first Environmental Champions.

Stay tuned, there are more coming!

We hope that you can donate to these candidates, either time or money, will speak well of them on Social Media, and if you are in their district, vote for them!

Dear Governor Walz,

We write out of concern over a disturbing trend in the executive branch of our government. Policy decisions are being made regarding the environment which are antithetical to important goals of the DFL Environmental Caucus. These concerns are reflected in a letter dated December 11, 2023, to the governor’s office, from contact person Don Arnosti, signed by several dozen individuals and representing as many organizations, concerning “Community Members’ Request for Regulatory Accountability”. (Enclosed)

All Minnesotans deserve, need and want clean air, clean water, access to a protected natural landscape, biodiversity and wildlife conservation, and a livable planet. As a caucus, we advance these goals within the DFL party and more broadly. We take the concerns expressed in the letter seriously, and frankly, expect more from you and our state agencies.

The DFL Environmental Caucus has fought attempts to weaken environmental policy and supported decisions that fund and empower our agencies to safeguard health, to conserve and protect shared resources, and to honor tribal rights to hunt, fish and gather. The DFL’s action agenda and DFL Party Platform call for addressing many of these issues. We call on you to refocus your priorities on the health and safety of your citizens over the desires of multinational corporations. We call on you to direct state agencies to enforce regulations that already exist and to strengthen those that are weak. We call on you to increase accountability and transparency in all state agencies. The DFL Environmental Caucus will continue to hold educational forums, endorse and help elect environmental champions, and advocate for action on climate and other environmental issues to protect what humans need and love!

As a start, we would like to request an early February meeting with you to review our concerns and discuss policy and regulatory changes to correct these issues. Please contact Megan Bond at 562.826.6254 or mdbond82@gmail.com to set up the meeting.

Under your leadership, our 2023 legislature passed landmark legislation on climate, lead removal, environmental justice, and more. We are grateful for the progress our state has made. But we have much more work to do and are counting on you, Governor Walz, to lead the way.

Sincerely,

Bond, Chair and members of the DFL Environmental Caucus executive committee