ELY, Minn. (FOX 9) – The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has proposed selling 80,000 acres of school trust land in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).
What is School Trust Land?
School trust lands are areas set aside to generate income for schools. The DNR, the Minnesota Office of School Trust Lands, and the U.S. Forest Service – Superior National Forest are working together to transfer about 80,000 acres of these lands in the BWCAW to federal ownership.
Benefit for Schools
The DNR says this decision will benefit Minnesota public schools. The federal government will buy the land using federal Land Water Conservation Funds. These funds will then go into the Permanent School Fund, which supports 850,000 students in Minnesota public schools by sending revenue from these lands to all schools across the state.
Officials’ Statements
Sarah Strommen, commissioner of the Minnesota DNR, said, “This important land transaction ensures that the DNR can fulfill its fiduciary responsibility to the school trust. We are pleased to work with the U.S. Forest Service and The Conservation Fund to remove school trust lands from within the BWCAW and acquire forest lands outside the wilderness for the public.”
Aaron Vande Linde, director of the Minnesota Office of School Trust Lands, added, “The resolution of this longstanding land management issue is a major win for Minnesota’s public school students. The project’s culmination will result in millions of dollars deposited into the Permanent School Fund. This investment will support the state’s public education system in perpetuity.”
Proposal and Support
A 2012 proposal to exchange school trust lands inside the BWCAW for lands outside the area has been canceled. The new proposal aims to finalize the land purchase by the end of 2026.
Ingrid Lyons, Executive Director of Save the Boundary Waters, said, “This is a good day for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Minnesota students. It solves a key issue that has been unresolved for thirty years and would infuse millions of dollars into the permanent fund supporting K-12 Minnesota schools.”
The proposal has the support of three Reservation Tribal Councils of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
