A petition with more than 1,000 names attached to it that asked the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to change its mind about placing the Gitchi Gami bike trail bridge across the front of the 25-foot falls on Fall River and moving the bike path to a second option (Option 2) running parallel along Highway 61 has been denied.
The petition was sent by Bryan Hansel, a well-known outdoor photographer and photography teacher who spent years leading kayak groups to the Fall River location. In his letter to Commissioner Strommen, Hansel outlined several concerns and reasons why he felt the bridge should be relocated.
The DNR considered other alternatives before settling on the bridge option. Those included building a bike trail next to Highway 61 made possible by extending a highway culvert; or building an intermediate approach between the two others, which would require a 200-foot concrete bridge to span the river above the waterfalls.
In an April 5 email back to Hansel, commissioner Strommen stated, “Because of the high level of public interest in bridge placement, the Commissioner’s Office, both past and present, has been engaged throughout the decision-making process. As an assistant commissioner at the time of the decision and review, I actively participated in those deliberations. I supported the bridge placement decision then, and I continue to support it now for the following key reasons: . The selected design minimizes visual impacts while maximizing accessibility to the falls—and to high-quality recreation experiences along the Gitchi-Gami State Trail—for all Minnesotans. . The design helps to mitigate public safety and natural resource risk by reducing the use of user-developed trails and the potential for associated compaction of erosion issues.”
When built in 2020, the bridge will be part of the Gitchi Gami bike trail that will run 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, Fall River, or Rosebush, as it is called by locals, is a pretty location with two pools, one just below the 25-foot waterfall and a smaller one near the entrance to Lake Superior. It has long been a desirable spot to fish rainbow trout and other species of fish that come into the river or pool in front of the outgoing caramel-colored water as it spills into the lake.
Kayakers, picnickers, painters, hikers, swimmers, and photographers are also drawn to the river for its natural beauty.
In his email to commissioner Strommen Hansel said, “The DNR was in conversations with MnDOT over the bridge location. MnDOT has plans to replace the Fall River culvert under Highway 61, and MnDOT offered to extend the culvert and build the bridge (Option 2).
“MnDOT’s Michael Kalnbach confirmed these conversations between MnDOT and the DNR at a November 7, 2018, public meeting about the Highway 61 construction projects in Cook County. This proposal was also not presented at the public meeting in violation of the Minnesota Open Meeting Law.
“By withholding the information about four alternative bridge locations and failing to present the public with that information the DNR violated the Minnesota Open Meeting Law,” Hansel wrote.
In reply, Commissioner Strommen answered, “I disagree with your assessment that DNR staff violated the Open Meeting Law, acted in bad faith, or provided false engineering information. Having participated in several discussions on this matter with DNR professionals, I am confident that they grappled earnestly with the multiple values and perspectives at play in this decision.
“The decision to align the trail downstream of the waterfall was not an easy one, but it was thoughtfully and deliberately made. While I am aware that you do not agree with the decision, I continue to support it.”
As for Bryan Hansel, he said he has no plans to file a lawsuit at this time. But the decision rankles him.
“The DNR failed to present all the bridge options to the public at the public meeting and failed to live up to their obligations outlined in the Gitchi-Gami scoping document of multiple meetings for each new section of trail—they didn’t even hold a meeting for the new trail section in Tofte.
“They presented false information about what someone standing on the beach would see, and they had already decided what bridge they would use before going public. If the [Grand Marais] mayor hadn’t gotten involved, the DNR would never have held a public meeting. The entire process was a sham.
“There’s a sign on Highway 61 near Silver Bay that says, ‘DNR: Do Nothing Right’. Whoever made that sign got that right. The DNR is dead wrong on this. If the state agencies would live up to Governor Walz’s pledge of One Minnesota, the DNR would have listened to the massive rural opposition against this ill-conceived bridge, but instead some St. Paul bureaucrat ignored us again.”
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