Along the shore of Lake Vermilion in northeastern Minnesota, a five-mile stretch of shoreline --- some of "the most unspoiled and beautiful wilderness to be found in Minnesota," a recent news story reports -- remains undeveloped.
That's about to change. But the key questions remains unanswered: Will the changes ead to a long line of million-dollar homes, cutting off the public's access to the shoreline for good?
Or will it see the shoreline evolve into a treasured state park?
Time has not run out on the proposed Lake Vermilion State Park. But it's getting short; and if the park's supporters don't take action soon, they could wake up one morning and see that the bulldozers, vacation-home architects and construction crews have moved in.
"Back in 2008, funding for Lake Vermilion State Park was one of the signature accomplishments of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's legislative maneuvering," the news story in the St. Paul Legal Ledger noted Monday.
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But as the months passed, problems arose, notably the failure of the Department of Natural Resources and the property owner, U.S. Steel, to agree on a price. U.S. Steel wanted $20 million; but according to the state's assessments of the property's value, Minnesota could pay no more than $14 million.
With negotiations at a stalemate, U.S. Steel won permission from St. Louis County to subdivide and sell about half of the land. End of the trail, it appeared at the time.
Or was it? "Even now, the proposed state park has its die-hard supporters, and they remain convinced that the land sale eventually can be completed," the St. Paul Legal Ledger story reported.
"They are heartened by the fact that, nearly six months after getting the bureaucratic green light to develop the site, U.S. Steel has not turned a shovel's full of dirt to further the project."
Why the inaction? Probably because Minnesota's economic downturn has cooled demand for luxury housing, even on Lake Vermilion.
But whatever the reason, the fact remains that U.S. Steel's development plans seem to have stalled. That leaves the gate open for state action -- and Minnesotans should walk through that rustic backwoods entrance while they still can.
How to get closer to U.S. Steel's price? As mentioned in a previous editorial, one way is through private donations. Philanthropists helped create America's national parks, the editorial noted. Among other examples, Rockefeller family money helped buy land for Acadia, Grand Teton, Great Smoky Mountains, Virgin Islands and Yosemite national parks.
Today, the Grand Forks Park District is asking -- and getting -- private donors to pay for a civic wellness and fitness center. Crary Homes and Real Estate donated a 42-acre site for the project. The land is valued at $3 million to $4 million.
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That's half to three-quarters of the difference between the DNR's offer and U.S. Steel's asking price, and it surfaced in Grand Forks, population 52,000.
How much better could Minnesota, with 5.2 million people, do?
Yes, Minnesota has a big deficit. Yes, the DNR is finding it hard to maintain existing parks.
But those are problems of the day. The park is a project for the ages. One hundred and eighteen years later, who remembers the headaches of creating Itasca State Park? That park's cost/benefit scale tipped to the "benefit" side decades ago and has sat there ever since.
The same would happen in the history of Lake Vermilion State Park. Minnesota should take this chance of a lifetime and create the park.
-- Tom Dennis for the Herald
