Last week, the Cook County News- Herald reported on a news release from the Minnesota Land Trust regarding a conservation easement it had been granted in Cook County’s East End. It described a piece of shoreline property on McFarland Lake near a county beach and boat launch, descriptors that fit a parcel owned by Wheaton College of Wheaton, Illinois. PolyMet Mining has been paying Wheaton College for the right of first refusal on its 32.1-acre parcel as it negotiates a land exchange with the U.S. Forest Service, a trade that would serve the goals of both PolyMet and the Forest Service. The parcel on which the Minnesota Land Trust received an easement, however, was not the Wheaton College parcel as reported.
According to Cook County Assessor Mary Black, Jessica Wirth recorded a conservation easement in the Cook County Recorder’s Office on December 30 for property she owns on McFarland Lake. In addition, Black said PolyMet Mining has applied to Iron Range Resources for funding to purchase Wheaton College’s McFarland Lake parcel and a parcel on Hay Lake in St. Louis County.
When gathering information for the January 8 article on the conservation easement, the News-Herald asked Wheaton College about its negotiations with PolyMet and informed the college spokesperson that an article was being written about Wheaton’s decision to go with a conservation easement to the Minnesota Land Trust instead. Wheaton College Director of Media Relations LaTonya Taylor responded via email by saying, “At this time, Wheaton College must keep the status of its ownership of the McFarland Lake property as a private matter and must refrain from commenting out of respect for the parties involved. I trust you will understand this position.” The college did not deny that it had granted a conservation easement to the Minnesota Land Trust.
According to the fall 2010 edition of Wheaton, a publication sent to Wheaton College alumni, the college has been recognized as a “green college” and is included in The Princeton Review’s Guide to 286 Green Colleges, a book that focuses on “institutions that demonstrate an above-average commitment to environmental sustainability in infrastructure, activities, and initiatives.”
The News-Herald contacted PolyMet regarding its option to buy the Wheaton College property, but it would disclose no details about the deal. Vice President of Environmental Affairs/ Director of Governmental Affairs LaTisha Gietzen answered via email by saying, “Cost details are a private matter.” When asked how the purchase of this tract would help with a land exchange with the Forest Service, Gietzen answered, “This piece of property is part of a package of land that is being evaluated through the EIS [Environmental Impact Statement] process. That process will determine what lands will ultimately be included in the exchange.”
Gietzen indicated that PolyMet is not considering purchasing and does not have an option of first refusal on any other property in Cook County. Regarding its non-ferrous mining goals in northeastern Minnesota, she wrote, “PolyMet will be a domestic source of metals essential for everyday life. We will directly bring 400 jobs to northeastern Minnesota and do so in a way that is protective of the environment.”
The Minnesota Land Trust, meanwhile, is working on acquiring conservation easements totaling 1,128 acres on four other Cook County shoreline properties along Farquhar Creek, Irish Creek, Kemo Lake, and Moosehorn Lake.
The Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, established by the Minnesota legislature to provide annual funding recommendations for the state’s Outdoor Heritage Fund (one of four funds created by the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment), has recommended a grant of $816,000 to the Minnesota Land Trust for its Critical Shoreline Habitat Protection Program. According to the plan proposed for the grant, “The Arrowhead region is prioritized in this phase of the program because it has immensely important shoreline habitat and aquatic resources for fish, game and wildlife (including the highest concentration of trout streams in the state) and because it has a high concentration of landowners interested in placing conservation easements on their properties.”
Regarding the Minnesota Land Trust’s McFarland Lake conservation easement not being from Wheaton College, what appeared to be 2+2 equaling 4 was not really 2+2 after all. The News- Herald regrets its misunderstanding of the information it received.
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