September 24, 2012
To the Editor:
I see one of our new immigrants to Ely,
Mr. Reid Carron, is putting out more misinformation on the proposed
BWCA/state/federal land exchange. Let me enlighten your readers.
First, Mr. Carron states “current law
adequately provides for dealing with school trust lands, no
additional legislation is necessary”. If so, I ask Mr. Carron why,
after 35 years, has no exchange taken place? I’ll tell you my
opinion why, because the Feds, DNR, and most environmental
organizations have never wanted an exchange. It’s too big a
headache for the Feds and the DNR. And, as for the
environmentalists, the real truth is that they don’t want federal
land to become state land because they know they’ll have a tougher
time suing in state court than in federal court, over activities they
don’t like, such as logging, snowmobiling, and ATV use.
Next, let’s look at Mr. Carron’s
claim that school trust money is “miniscule”. Every year, the
Minneapolis, St. Paul and Anoka-Hennepin School Districts get over $1
million each from that fund. Good management of the timber resources
alone from this exchanged land could and should increase those
figures exponentially. Maybe $1 million a year is miniscule to Mr.
Carron. But to this old, tired, 3rd generation Ranger,
that’s still real money.
Now, let’s talk about this absurd
statement in Mr. Carron’s letter claiming the bill is “a giveaway
to multinational mining companies”. The 93,000 acres of school and
University trust land in the BWCA will become federal land, and the
93,000 acres of federal land in the Mesabi Purchase portion of the
Superior National Forest (that’s the unattached portion of the
Superior National Forest that runs from north of Biwabik all the way
to north of Hibbing) will become state trust land and will be managed
in perpetuity to raise income for public education. What bogeyman do
you see under your bed here, Mr. Carron? An acre for acre exchange
where state land becomes federal land and federal land becomes state
land will result in no net loss of public ownership. Why is this
such a hard concept for the environmental community to grasp?
Because, it certainly isn’t a giveaway to any mining company.
Next, let’s talk about Mr. Carron’s
claim that “Ely area residents . . . will lose scores of thousands
of acres of Superior National Forest land that are now available for
hunting, snowmobiling, hiking, snowshoeing, and many other
recreational pursuits”. While many of the “old immigrants”
from the Ely and Tower area must be thinking that you’re talking
about the
To the Editor
September 24, 2012
Page Two
original Boundary Waters Act, Mr.
Carron, let me assure them that for you to say this about the
proposed land exchange bill is an absolute lie. In fact, Ely and
Tower area residents will have an easier time recreating on the new
state land. But that’s really why you and other environmentalists
oppose this bill, isn’t it? Because you know it will be easier to
put a snowmobile trail or cut down a tree on state land than on
federal land.
Mr. Carron, your letter was, to put it
in Range-speak, just a bunch of BS. To imply that any member of the
Iron Range Delegation is supporting this legislation because we are
stoolies for “multinational mining companies” is nuts. I will
never forget the way my father and grandfather were treated by the
Oliver Iron Mining Company (while you on the other hand don’t even
know what the Oliver Iron Mining Company is). So let me tell you,
Mr. Carron, that I am always going to be on the side of the miners
and our mining communities, and not your “multinational mining
companies”. And while I am no economic genius, I know that without
mining and mining companies we have no Iron Range.
So, Mr. Carron, as I’ve said before
and I’ll say many times again, Ely, Tower, Winton, Cook, Grand
Rapids, and the North Shore couldn’t exist without our taconite
industry. And the ugly truth, which the Friends of the BWCA, Sierra
Club, etc. fail to acknowledge is that we are currently mining and
logging in the Superior National Forest, and we haven’t harmed it,
have we, Mr. Carron? Minntac, Arcelor Mittal, North Shore Mining,
and Mesabi Nugget are all currently operating in the Superior
National Forest and it’s their taconite taxes that keep all our
communities, including Duluth, alive.
So in ending, Mr. Carron, while you’re
worried about the Range turning into a “Banana Republic”, I’m
worrying about a bunch of hypocritical environmentalists who want to
turn our proud, productive, mining-based Iron Range into a Bangladesh
where we can all be “sherpas” carrying bags and canoes for
tourists, and existing on their tips and leftovers!
Tom Rukavina
State Representative
District 5A
P.S. I won’t even get into your
outright lie that the Iron Range Delegation killed some proposed land
exchange you claimed happened in 1997 because after all, it’s just
another lie.
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