Some local fishermen, photographers, picnickers, kayakers, hikers and swimmers who visit Fall River for a quiet time of relaxation, peace and quiet aren’t too impressed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ decision to put a 60-foot suspension bridge across the front of the lakeside waterfall.
The bridge will be part of the Gitchi Gami bike trail that will be built next summer from Cutface (the Rock Cut) to connect with the bike trail leading into Grand Marais. It will be just over three miles long.
Located just a mile and a half out of Grand Marais, Rosebush, as it is called by locals, is very accessible to the public. It’s a pretty spot with two pools, one just below the 25-foot waterfall and a smaller one near the entrance to Lake Superior. In the summer wildflowers, especially wild pink roses—grow along the banks of the small stream.
“I can’t imagine a bridge marring the view of the waterfall,” said one local businessman and member of the Chamber of Commerce who didn’t want to be identified. “My father used to take pictures there and use them for promotions for our business. It’s a beautiful natural area. This is something I definitely don’t want to see.”
The DNR considered two other alternatives before settling on the bridge option.
The first would be to build a trail next to Highway 61 made possible by extending a highway culvert; or, in the second scenario, build an intermediate approach between the two others, which would require a 200-foot concrete bridge to span the river above the waterfalls.
Both ideas were nixed due to cost and for safety reasons. Also, the DNR felt the bicyclists would have a more “natural” experience pedaling pell-mell across the front of a waterfall.
A local steelhead fisherman described the plan as “hare-brained,” while another just shook his head and said, “Where do they come up with these ideas?”
Still, the concept is considered to have great merit by some. On Nov. 26, Jim Boyd, director of the Cook County Chamber of Commerce, sent a letter to Tom Landwehr, commissioner of the Minnesota DNR, stating, “The board of the Cook County Chamber of Commerce applauds your decision to move forward with the Gitchi Gami State Trail alignment across the Fall River near Grand Marais that includes the 60-foot wood suspension bridge proposed by the DNR staff.
“For all of the excellent reasons that Parks and Trails Director Erica Rivers outlined in her Oct. 9 letter to Bryan Hansel and Peter Harris, plus the reasons outlined in the Chamber board’s Aug. 28 letter to you, we firmly believe this decision is in the best interests of the people of Minnesota.
“There are tens of thousands of people—bikers, walkers, handicapped people using all sorts of conveyances— who will enjoy this trail over the years. As Mrs. Rivers said, this alignment will ‘minimize visual and other resource impacts;’ ‘create a high-quality recreational access to outstanding natural features,’ and ‘mitigate a public safety and natural resource risk…’”
Both Bryan and Peter have led a charge to stop the DNR from putting the bridge across the front of the waterfall.
When Hansel pressed Boyd to give him the list of Chamber members who are in favor of this plan, Boyd refused to give it him. In doing a small poll, the Cook County News-Herald randomly asked 10 chamber members about their feelings of the Chamber advocating for putting a bridge across Fall River and none of them were aware the Chamber was in favor of such a plan.
Through persistence Hansel has at least gotten answers to two pressing questions. His latest query was directed to Kent Skaar, senior project manager, Parks and Trails Division.
“What is the plan for the existing user trail to the waterfall from Highway 61?” asked Hansel.
Skaar replied, “The MNDNR Parks and Trails Division has no plan for modification or improvement to the user created trail. It is acknowledged that limited realignment of the user created trail/s either side of the proposed state trail may be necessary following the installation of the proposed state trail bridge.”
“Will people still be able to park on Highway 61 and access the waterfall as they currently do?” questioned Hansel, who was worried the DNR was going to put up a barrier fence restricting access to the falls.
“The MNDNR has no proposal that will limit pedestrian access from TH61,” answered Skaar.
“The discussion regarding the installation of a fence during our on-site meeting was not a reflection on a barrier fence along TH61 but rather an acknowledgement that should the trail corridor be placed closer to TH61, accessible access to view the falls could require revisions to the existing trails.
“I did suggest at that time that one possible option that would assure accessible access and limit natural resource impacts from a significant increase in use would be to place a fence on the lakeside of the proposed trail and a requirement that all users access a designated falls observation location from a single developed trail,” Skaar replied.
So far more than 1,000 people have signed a petition to the commissioner asking him to drop the plan for the bridge and consider the other alternatives.
For now the matter is settled. A natural area will have an unnatural barrier put across it. Bridges are supposed to join things together. But for many, even avid bicyclists, this (potential) bridge seems to be more of a divider than unifier.
Leave a Reply