Bluestem's been following the fight by concerned citizens to curb plans by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MDOT) to clearcut trees along the Lake Country Scenic Byway.
On Tuesday, Robin Huebner reports for the Detroit Lakes Tribune Online in Opponents of Highway 34 tree removal deliver formal complaint to Minnesota Attorney General:
Opponents of ongoing tree removal, part of a Highway 34 road resurfacing project in Becker County, have filed a formal complaint with the Minnesota Attorney General in an effort to stop the logging.
Willis Mattison, on behalf of the Save the Trees Coalition, hand-delivered the complaint to Keith Ellison’s office on Tuesday, Feb. 7, which he said alleges “malfeasance and possible fraud” on the part of Minnesota Department of Transportation District 4.
The complaint calling for “immediate intervention” on the tree removal was also sent to the offices of Gov. Tim Walz, MnDOT Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger and multiple state legislators. . . ,
Mattison, a professional ecologist and retired regional director of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, said the information presented by MnDOT on driver safety and potential chloride savings is anecdotal and doesn’t hold up.
Mattison said mature trees and collections of the state flower along Highway 34 have been repeatedly and intentionally preserved by previous District 4 engineers, who recognized their unique tourism value.
He said he’s disappointed in the response from Minnesota’s congressional delegation, who simply advised the group to bring their complaints to MnDOT.
“We've done that… and have been rebuffed unfairly, almost in a bullying, authoritative and arrogant fashion,” Mattison said
Read the rest of the story at the DL Online.
In the Opinon section of the paper, there's these Letters to the Editor from area residents. In Scenic byway destruction is causing MnDOT's reputation to nosedive, the Rev. Howie Anderson writes:
I don’t think MnDOT local and state leaders, or Gov. Walz, realize how their insistence on carrying out the unnecessary destruction of the Highway 34 scenic byway will deeply affect the standing of our Minnesota Department of Transportation.
As a person who worked for MnDOT’s Detroit Lakes shop in my youth, I have always held great respect for its workers. I think especially of the snow plow drivers who keep us able to get to work and school in snowy winters, risking life and limb. These heroes will suffer from the actions you are taking to destroy a treasured part of our region’s life.
I grew up at Toad Lake, and from childhood I loved the pines in our trips into our Osage post office and Park Rapids for groceries. The destruction of the pristine forest lining that stretch is, as so many have indicated in their protests, both unnecessary and unethical.
Public opinion of MnDOT counts – especially in Greater Minnesota.
Why spoil a good and deep relationship between a community that has respected and admired MnDOT by ignoring the Becker County Board and White Earth Nation’s protests of this action? It is simply not worth it! Killing the showy lady slipper patches is not worth it! Destroying the scenic byway is not worth it! Destroying a longstanding positive relationship with the public is not worth it!
And practically, should you go through with this, you will be creating the conditions for whiteouts in blizzards, which simply do not occur in roads with trees relatively close to the road. Why risk that and more, not fewer, accidents? Anyone who drives here in the north knows that!
It’s not too late. Stop this project before it is too late!
Earlier, rural Detroit Lakes resident Terry Kalil wrote in Help save MN's scenic byways now or mourn for them later:
For 60, 80 or even 100 years, white pines, oaks, maples and aspen lined the roadway between Detroit Lakes and Park Rapids. That road has been widened in a few places, repaved but largely left untouched – until last week, when MnDOT declared them of no value.
In a decision made locally by MnDOT employees sitting in their office on Highway 10, the Lake Country Scenic Byway was deemed the perfect place to carry out an ill-conceived plan to strip the roadway of trees in hopes that the sun will melt the snow.
Common sense and an abundance of experience proves how unsuccessful this scheme will be. Ever drive to Fargo on a snowy day? Then you know that clearing the trees doesn’t help. Ever look desperately for sunshine in January? Then you know there’s not much. Ever notice how long the shadows are in winter? Then you know that the sun is low, not beating down on asphalt. Ever notice that when logging occurs, saplings pop up and provide food for deer? Then you know that you’ll see more deer near the road.
There’s a dedicated group of volunteers representing the Izaak Walton League (Bill Henke, Willis Mattison, Matt Davis, Scott Sonstegard, Kelly Blackledge), the Highway 34 Scenic Byway (Cleone Stewart) and Honor the Earth who have worked for more than a year on educating MnDOT and appealing to them for common sense study before slaughtering the Byway.
The appeals have included a request for a true public meeting to gather input (granted but never scheduled), requests for vegetation management plans, reasonable alternatives to reducing auto crashes.
The MnDOT official in Detroit Lakes responsible for this fiasco is Joeb Oyster ([email protected]) 218-846-3505. This week more than 70 concerned citizens gathered from across the nation via zoom and at M State to learn more about what MnDOT is doing and to express their concerns and ask questions. Sadly, not a single MnDOT official showed up. It was among the worst acts of cowardice by a public agency that I’ve ever experienced.
The Scenic Highway designation was granted to this roadway by MnDOT. When they were asked if the destruction of lady slipper habitat and old-growth forest could remove that designation, MnDOT will decide that after the project is done. In other words, the Scenic Byway is dead. It may be too late for the Highway 34 Byway, but it’s not too late for the public to insist that MnDOT take steps now to protect the other scenic byways in Minnesota. Our tourism dollars and small town economies rely on these destination journeys. Our tax dollars pay for MnDOT’s devastation. This is a prime example of future generations having to pay for the thoughtless actions of MnDOT.
How can you help? Go take a drive out to Snellman. Then speak out, call MnDOT, call your elected officials, write letters. It’s either act now or weep at what we lost next summer, when our road ditches are barren of the Pink Lady Slippers and the trees are gone, reduced to pulp.
And in late January, Laurie Lynch Fong of Detroit Lakes wrote in Stand up against the 'unnecessary and unethical' logging on Highway 34:
A huge thank you to Nathan Bowe and Robin Huebner for the Jan. 28 front page coverage of the betrayal of our beautiful Highway 34 "Lake Country Scenic Byway" by the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
MnDOT Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger, who "speaks for" the governor, and Highway Engineer Shiloh Walz have falsely claimed that there is "no controversy" as to the damage, or better yet, destruction currently underway due to environmental concerns over the unnecessary and unethical logging of the exceptional drive from Detroit Lakes to Park Rapids and points in between.
Opposition from our Becker County commissioners and other local groups and individuals has fallen on deaf ears. Anyone who cares about this assault on nature and aesthetic values needs to contact their state representatives and the officials named above to stop this travesty immediately, so the environmental consequences of this project can be more scientifically studied. It is being promoted as a "safety" issue without the numbers to prove it.
The headline of the front page article? Cutting trees and breaking hearts: Logging starts on scenic Highway 34.
Reading the local DL paper from our perch in Summit, South Dakota, it's difficult to understand how any government official can claim there's "no controversy" over this uglication of a scenic drive.
Related posts
- No guarantee MNDOT axes will spare "trees of significance" on Highway 34 scenic byway
- Update on Hwy 34 scenic byway tree trimming: Becker County seeks moratorium this year
- Letter: MNDOT's plan to resurface Hwy 34 may ruin Lake Country Scenic Byway
- Update: Becker County Board of Commissioners asks MnDOT to save Hwy 34's scenic beauty
Photo: A group of Showy Lady's Slippers along Highway 34. They are the official state flower, but that offers them no special protections. Contributed to the Detroit Lakes Tribune/ Kelly Blackledge.
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