We got what we wanted…now what?

By Andrew Slade, Hindsight Community Fellow, February 16, 2012 at 8:30 am

It seems in environmental work that we are generally fighting against businesses. We oppose a smelter proposed for next to a grade school. We oppose a retailer’s parking lot expansion when it threatens a trout stream. We oppose the Chamber of Commerce’s efforts to roll back regulations that protect clean water.

Could this be a rare occasion environmentalists are FOR something a business does?

Last fall, many Minnesota environmental groups opposed Lutsen Mountain Corporation’s request for a permit to draw water out of the drought-stricken Poplar River for snowmaking. These groups demanded that Lutsen stop withdrawals from the river completely.

If they can’t make snow, the Corporation said, business will take a big hit, and the Cook County economy will suffer. The Minnesota DNR approved Lutsen’s permit but with a strict requirement that Lutsen get out of the Poplar River in three years.

Four months later, Lutsen Mountains Corporation is back with a proposal to do just what the DNR and environmental groups asked them to do. They have a proposal for a $4.8 million pipeline that will bring water straight out of Lake Superior up to the ski hill for snowmaking and other uses.

While the Corporation will find $1.2 million to contribute to the pipeline, they are asking for $3.6 million from the state bonding bill.

The bill is known as the Lake Superior-Poplar River Water District. It’s House File 1810 and Senate File 1511.

Some environmental groups, including Conservation Minnesota, are already supporting the proposal. Yes, the project primarily benefits one private business. But it will also benefit the fish and habitat of the Poplar River.

Are the public benefits of ample water in the river and a strong tourist economy worth the $3.6 million public investment? Are you for this or against it? Whether you support this bill or not, it can be nice sometimes to be in support of a good thing and not always in a fight against bad things.

Posted in Economic Development | Related Topics: Lakes & Rivers