DNR working on a new park 'up north'

There could be a new state park in outdoors-obsessed Minnesota's near future, its first in three decades. Minnesota officials are negotiating with US Steel to acquire about 2,500 acres, including about 5 miles of lakeshore on Lake Vermilion in northern Minnesota.

The potential for a deal surfaced abruptly within the last five weeks. Officials from the Department of Natural Resources and the steel company began talks on turning over the property, situated on the eastern shores of Lake Vermilion adjacent to the existing Soudan Underground Mine State Park.

While negotiations are tentative, Gov. Tim Pawlenty said on Tuesday the purchase would likely cost "tens of millions" of dollars but predicted quick bipartisan approval from the Legislature. Portions of the park could be up and running in about three years, DNR officials said.

In the meantime, US Steel will continue with its plans to develop the parcel for 150 private homes. The company has given the state a window of about one year to complete a deal.

In announcing the plan, state officials acknowledged they expected "robust" discussions about uses in the park, which will be adjacent to portions of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Superior National Forest.

As a state park, the new property would be expected to accommodate multiple uses, including snowmobile trails and possibly ATV trails, always a contentious proposition in that region.

Open to new visitors

The state park on Vermilion, one of the most picturesque of Minnesota's larger northern lakes, could provide a place for many people who have increasingly found themselves priced out of an affordable "up north" lake experience.

"We're keeping access open to one of our great Minnesota treasures," Pawlenty said in announcing the proposal.

Economic and visitor spending for a new state park is projected to bring in an estimated $8.6 million a year to the region and $515,190 a year in direct income. If approved, the two state parks combined would provide more than 10 miles of recreational shoreline and 3,700 acres of public land. State financing could come from bonding, a general fund appropriation or use of the state's Environmental Trust Fund.

US Steel had been in a three-year process of trying to determine how they were going to develop the land, part of former mining property, when they were approached by DNR Commissioner Mark Holsten and others about giving the state a chance to make a bid on the property.

"We have a very definitive window but a very exciting window," Holsten said.

Conservation and parks and trails groups hailed the proposal, saying it would open up the state park experience to new visitors and renew awareness of the rest of the state park system, which consists of 72 state park and recreation areas, eight waysides, and 54 state forest campgrounds and day-use areas.

If it goes through, the Vermilion proposal would become the first new major state park since Tettegouche was established on the North Shore of Lake Superior in 1979.

State Park Director Courtland Nelson said amenities could include a Boundary Waters-like camping experience with access to sites off the water, a youth outdoor skills training facility and state-of-the-art technology such as wireless Internet to help visitors find their way around. A marina is possible, in cooperation with the private sector, Nelson said.

Mark Brunswick • 651-222-1636 • mbrunswick@startribune.com