Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Monday, August 04, 2008
Lawmakers aim to raise land revenue for schools
ST. PAUL (AP) — Minnesota lawmakers want to know how to get more money out of the 2.5 million acres of land set aside 150 years ago to support the state’s schools.
Legislators are examining the state’s management of the so-called trust land, most of which is in northern Minnesota.
A recent joint hearing of a Senate natural resources and education finance committee heard from the state Department of Natural Resources about the land.
“What we’re trying to figure out here is, within reason, what can we expect in terms of income to our schools in the future?” said Sen. Tom Saxhaug, DFL-Grand Rapids.
He said the state’s schools need the money. “In these days when education funding is in a real crisis level in Minnesota I think that is going to be very important,” Saxhaug said.
Right now, school trust lands generate about $16 million a year for Minnesota public schools — about $11 million of that from mineral leases.
However, Senator David Hann noted the costs of managing and putting out forest fires on the land consumes 80 percent of the revenue it generates.
The Eden Prairie Republican says the joint panel needs to determine if that return is acceptable. “How do we evaluate how well this is being done or how well it ought to be done?” Hann said.
When Minnesota became a state in 1858, the federal government took two parcels of land in every township and put them into a trust for the benefit of public schools.
That trust once held 8.1 million across of land, but due to sales of land over the years there are now 2.5 million acres. Koochiching County has just over a third of the total, or 854,136 acres.
The two Senate committees — the Senate Natural Resources Subcommittee and the Senate E-12 Education Budget Division — intend to meet again in October to learn more.
One development on the horizon that could increase the state’s take from the trust lands is mining development in northern Minnesota.
Marty Vadis, DNR director of lands and minerals, said four companies are exploring mineral deposits in the area. If the projects are built, they could produce $1.4 billion for the school trust fund during a 30-year period.
Saxhaug said the prospects are exciting.
“There’s no question about it, that some of the proposals for projects in northeastern Minnesota, particularly in the area of nonferrous mining, involve school trust lands and could be increasingly valuable,” Saxhaug said.
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