Sunday, December 23, 2001, Duluth News-Tribune

It's time for a new vision for Spirit Mountain

Perhaps now that the Duluth City Council has denied the work permits and land conversion request for the controversial golf course and hotel project at Spirit Mountain, this community should take a deep breath and develop a unified vision for Spirit Mountain.

The Spirit Mountain Recreation Area Authority would like to have the hotel to attract guests and to increase use and revenues. This is a reasonable thing.

The developers want the hotel to make a profit on their investment. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

The most controversial aspect of this project is the golf course. The course would greatly alter -- and some believe destroy -- the forest. The proposed golf course is not a forest-dependent use, but one that sees the forest as an encumbrance. It may also -- depending upon who you believe -- have deleterious impacts on the Stewart Creek watershed. And the Anishinabe people see the golf course as an insult to their religious beliefs, since it would be located in an area they consider sacred.

By removing the golf course from this scenario, controversy diminishes, and it is likely that the Land and Water Conservation Act issues can be more easily resolved. But what would then attract people to stay at the hotel during snow-free months?

One idea might be to work with the state of Minnesota to convert the area between Skyline Drive and I-35 into a state park. The best of the old growth could be designated as scientific and natural areas. Federal Land and Water Conservation Act money perhaps could be applied for by the state to make this acquisition, compensating the Spirit Mountain Recreation Area Authority and Duluth for the purchase.

The area already has a campground that could be upgraded, and the DNR has the expertise to develop hiking, biking and ski trails and an interpretive center, and to manage the forest for its old growth attributes. Perhaps a cooperative agreement could be worked out with the city of Duluth for DNR assistance in managing the adjacent Magney-Snively city forest property. Managed cohesively with nearby Jay Cooke State Park, this block of land would allow for serious study of old forest and act as a attraction for those interested in these attributes.

Since the forest would be left intact, it would also help preserve the interests of the Anishinabe -- but perhaps more could be done here as well.

The area below Skyline Drive could be maintained as the ski area and include the hotel site. The proposed "land swap'' could satisfy Land and Water Conservation Act issues, and with the developer's land left forested, I suspect opposition would be minimal. Visitors interested in forest-dependent activities could help fill the hotel in the summer. Conventions designed to attract ornithological groups, native people and others could help swell use. The vast parking lots used in winter for skiers could be attractively landscaped to be used as RV parks in the summer.

A second phase of development could include an aerial tram down to the Munger Trail, St. Louis River and Lake Superior Zoo. It could also include a golf course -- but to be located at the nearby abandoned U.S. Steel site. Hotel guests could be whisked by this tram down the hill and briskly transported by some sort of surface mode to the golf course, yet still be able to stay at the hotel on the mountain and enjoy its magnificent vistas.

Perhaps we could build boat docking facilities. The St. Louis River is a world-class fishery, and anglers outnumber golfers 2 to 1 in Minnesota. They too could stay at the hotel.

Is any of this workable? Hiking, biking, nature studies and bird watching are all growth "industries.'' State parks can be a big attraction. Angling is huge. Golf could still be a part of it. Marketing will be important, but the Duluth Convention and Visitors Bureau is the best there is. The U.S. Steel site has environmental clean-up issues involved -- but since resolution would benefit developers, neighbors, tourism, and the environment, surely these issues aren't insurmountable.

We have a lot of creative people in this city who -- freed up from fighting with each other -- might just figure out a way to meet everyone's interests. Not only would this be good for Spirit Mountain's natural assets, it would still create jobs and development. It would also be good for Duluth by fostering cooperation.

Or we can go back to "winner take all.''

MICHAEL FURTMAN, a Duluth resident, is vice president for conservation of the McCabe Chapter of Izaak Walton League of America.

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December 19, 2001, Duluth News-Tribune

DNT opinion on Spirit Mt.

Yes, the developers' work permit application was rejected. But that application would have had to sit on the table for so long and would have to be so substantially revised before finally coming to the Duluth City Council for approval, that a new permit application likely would have to be submitted anyway.

As Councilor Donny Ness rightly pointed out, the state law requiring a 60-day deadline, with another 60-day possible extension for council action, exists for a reason -- to protect developers and the public. You can't have work permit applications sitting indefinitely on the agenda with no action.

Council rejection of the permit application simply means developers can come back with a new permit application and start the 60-day clock anew when they have the project truly ready for consideration.

The view that the permit application wouldn't need to be substantially changed was based on a casual assumption that the Minnesota Department of Resources and National Park Service automatically would approve a proposal for taking public lands out of the Spirit Mountain Recreation Area, converting them to private use to allow building of a hotel and replacing the public land elsewhere.

However, conversion of public lands to private use under the Land and Water Conservation Act never is a sure thing. The law was designed to make it very difficult to do such conversions. The purpose of the law is to set aside lands permanently in the public estate.

It's not yet clear what the council vote rejecting the proposed land swap means. Do council members reject out of hand any proposal to convert public lands in the Spirit Mountain Recreation Area to private use to allow the building of the hotel in the proposed location? Or do they simply not like the existing proposal for swapping public and private land?

This issue will have to be explored. No community should lightly take public lands, improved with Americans' taxpayer money, and turn them over to private use without deliberation, good reasons and a plan for making replacement public lands available. A primary problem with the proposed land swap was that it hadn't been explored at all by any public body in Duluth before being sent off to the DNR.

If councilors reject any conversion, developers could explore placing the hotel on private land. The existing proposal called for a hotel and nine holes of an 18-hole golf course on public land and the nine remaining holes on adjacent private land. This could be reversed, avoiding the conversion issue for this project.

Conversion is a more complicated, lengthy, uncertain route.

With the council's vote Monday, we formally go to a different stage in the proposed golf course/hotel project. But the reality is, we already were there. The vote simply acknowledged the reality on the ground.

If there's a lesson, it's this: When dealing with public lands, make sure you know the rules and restrictive covenants, and go out of your way to approach involved agencies long before designs are prepared. No developers should be finding out five years into a project about such basic restrictions as those under the Land and Water Conservation Act -- a law thoroughly familiar in Duluth, which has been the second-largest beneficiary of grants in Minnesota after St. Paul.

Ness said Monday it was a matter of honor to stand by agreements; it's also a matter of competence. The city role in providing essential information to developers, public agencies, council members and public for the Spirit Mountain project can only be described as a debacle.

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Dec. 1, 2001, Duluth News-Tribune

Spirit Mountain should not be disturbed

After attending the Sierra Club educational and ecological tour of Spirit Mountain on Nov. 18 at the cross country ski trail location, I further concur with golf course opponents. I neither ski nor golf, but am an avid nature lover.

This pristine wilderness loaded with old growth stands of maple, yellow birch and other soft and hard woods must not be desecrated for progress and profit, nor disrupted or disturbed any further for its wildlife population.

This area is most unique.

Clyde Hanson of the Sierra Club introduced tour guides Carol Reschke, plant ecologist; Gary Walton, field botanist; and Nancy Nelson of the West Skyline Planning and Preservation Alliance; who all give unbiased, very informative data about the delicate ecosystem.

Why not upgrade our existing golf courses? How many courses does Duluth need? Or, better yet, choose another location; possibly the old steel or cement plant grounds.

Anyway, I'm with a great number of Duluthians who hope city administrators will look twice before making the wrong decision. Let our forest be just that.

CAROL BOTTEN
DULUTH

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Dec. 1, 2001, Duluth News-Tribune

Disputed area has several rare species

A recent headline in your paper stated, regarding plant life on Spirit Mountain within the site of a proposed golf course, "No rare species found on Spirit Mountain.''

That statement was false. Balderdash. Hokum. An untruth. A fabrication. And I have yet to see your paper correct the falsehood.

The following Minnesota Department of Natural Resources state-listed (rare species) have been found on Spirit Mountain:

1. Clustered bur-reed (Sparganium glomeratum, special concern, year found: 1998 and 2001).

2. Spring beauty (Claytonia caroliniana, special concern, year found: 1998).

3. Moschatel (Adoxa moschatellina, special concern, year found 1998 and 2001).

4. Torrey's Pale Manna Grass (Torreyochloa pallida, special concern, year found: 2001).

In addition, Pale Sedge (Carex pallescens, endangered) was discovered near the proposed construction zones including one population on a trail not far from the sites of proposed golf links. Endangered is the highest level of rarity. It is given to species with small populations or where there is imminent risk of extirpation or even extinction.

SALLY ANN KEYES
DULUTH

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Mar. 10, 2001, Duluth News-Tribune

Skyline Parkway is part of city's history

Along with Lake Superior, it is one of the major reasons tourists flock to our area, and why some Duluthians remain. I grew up a mile and a half in from Spirit Mountain, on the gravel portion of Skyline, and what a back yard I had! There were eight houses scattered throughout the woods. We couldn't see our neighbors, but knew them well.

My parents and I lived in a three-room cabin with a wood-burning stove and an outhouse. For quite a few years, before a basement was dug and a house was erected, that was home. The woods and trails were my playground.

It was a remote little community, and so peaceful before progress came, but that was inevitable. I've read the story of Mayor Samuel Snively, who was a "hands-on'' mayor. He was one of the originators and an early promoter of Skyline Parkway, Seven Bridges Road, and our park system. He gave his own money when it was needed. He cut brush and grabbed a shovel to help build the boulevards.

I believe this picturesque roadway is worth preserving, and every individual who resides along it should care enough to get involved. Each year, money is being allocated for new ventures and attractions. That is a given in a city trying to boost its economy. But salvaging our history, whether it be through architecture or natural resources, should be a priority. "Out with the old, in with the new'' seems to be too common an adage. Skyline Parkway is a tradition -- one that is hopefully carried on, and shared for a lifetime.

Laurie DeGrio Mattson
Duluth

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Jan. 23, 2001, Duluth News-Tribune

Spirit Mountain golf course has many hurdles to cross

Last January the proposed Spirit Ridge golf course was hotly debated in public hearings before the Duluth Planning Commission. When the commission decided no Environmental Impact Statement was needed for the project, a court challenge was filed by several local groups. In November the lawsuit ended when Judge Heather Sweetland upheld the Planning Commission's decision.

Although the outcome of the lawsuit means that no EIS will be completed, it does not mean that the project won't harm the environment.

Judge Sweetland wrote, ``The Court is concerned whether the permit process and ongoing monitoring by golf course management will be sufficient to protect the natural resources involved in this case. However, the permit process, monitoring, and mitigation measures are deemed adequate under Minnesota law, and therefore this Court must find it to be sufficient.''

So even if the permit process is followed and mitigation measures are carried out, the natural resources at Spirit Mountain will be at risk.

But the lawsuit's outcome does not guarantee the golf course will be built. Judge Sweetland wrote, ``Final approval of the lease will not occur until after Spirit Ridge has obtained the necessary permits and has met the environmental standards.''

What are these environmental standards? Unfortunately, there are no laws that protect old-growth forest, and therefore no ``standards'' to meet. If the golf course is built, the old-growth forest will suffer.

The golf course property includes a tributary to Stewart Creek, a healthy stream with a naturally reproducing brook trout population. The DNR, the agency responsible for protecting these resources, wrote ``For designated trout stream tributaries, which are extremely sensitive, a 100-foot setback should apply; the shore impact zone (where intensive vegetation clearing is prohibited) is 50 feet. There are many locations along holes 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 where the shore impact zone standard will not be met.'' The golf course must be redesigned to meet DNR standards or the trout stream will suffer.

Wetlands are protected by many regulations. Both state and federal laws prohibit filling or excavating in wetlands without a permit. The proposed hotel site involves filling of several acres of wetlands, so state and federal permits will be required.

In addition, Duluth's Water Resources Management Ordinance prohibits building structures or removing more than 20 percent of the trees and shrubs in wetlands unless a special-use permit is granted. The proposed golf course design involves cutting wetland trees and shrubs on all eighteen holes to provide sight lines. The Duluth Planning Commission will decide whether to approve the special-use permits for these exceptions to the ordinance. If the Planning Commission's decision is appealed, the Duluth City Council must review it.

The City Council also must make certain that the requirements of the 1998 Gilbert-Swapinski resolution are met. This requires a written plan that specifies how impacts to the forest will be minimized, an analysis of impacts to nearby drinking water wells and an archaeological review of the site. The resolution also requires ``A specific protocol to oversee the construction of the golf course to make sure that wetland, forest, and cross-country ski trails are protected and preserved.'' The protocol must include a method for monitoring construction, and financial and legal penalties if the resources are not protected.

The City Council must also review work permits for the project. If not satisfied that the project meets environmental standards, it can deny permits.

Ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the environment of the site is protected rests with the seven members of the Spirit Mountain Authority.

The lease agreement between the Authority and the developers states ``Developer agrees that it shall, to the greatest extent practical, design and construct the on-site course in such a manner as to preserve and protect the environment of the site, to minimize impacts on the existing cross-country ski trails, to preserve the afore-said forested areas and to protect the wetlands on the site.''

Although many agencies will be involved, it is the members of the Duluth City Council and the Spirit Mountain Authority who bear the final responsibility for ensuring that the publicly owned natural resources at Spirit Mountain are protected. They all have the power to just say ``no.''

Nelson is a member of the West Skyline Planning and Preservation Alliance. Three others also signed this column: Terry Brown of the West Skyline Planning and Preservation Alliance; Michael Furtman, vice president of Conservation of the McCabe Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America, and Ken Benoit, president of the GitcheGumee Chapter of Trout Unlimited.