Advocacy News
Portion of Lake Vermilion State Park opens to OHVs
All-terrain vehicle (ATV) advocates have been pushing to open up state parks to ATVs for years, and in 2020 their focus was on Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park in northeast Minnesota.
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Bonding bill passes, key parks and trails projects funded
Minnesota's Legislative Session was unprecedented, which is to say, it fit perfectly into the year 2020. For most of the year, the much anticipated bonding bill was stalled. It didn't get passed in regular session (Feb - May), nor in the June, July, August, or September special sessions. Then, finally, in October, during the fifth special session, the House and Senate passed a massive, $1.9 billion bonding bill, which was signed by Gov. Walz on Oct. 22. The bill funds a wide variety of items from roads, affordable housing, and college buildings to parks and trails projects.
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Mill Towns: Trail development
Add one new trail mile near Dundas and renovate three miles of trail along the Cannon River between Northfield and Dundas.
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Heartland: Itasca Connection
Extend the Itasca State Park multi-use trail system about two miles from the park’s contact station though a tunnel under Hwy 71.
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Goodhue Pioneer: Trail acquisition and development to close gap
Trail acquisition and development connecting Zumbrota and Goodhue to Red Wing and the Cannon Valley Trail.
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Gateway: New segment
Build a 3-mile segment from William O’Brien State Park to the Scandia Village Center, including a tunnel under County Road 52
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Blazing Star: Bridge
Extends the Blazing Star State Trail 2.4 miles by connecting two existing trail sections with a 100-foot single span pedestrian bridge crossing Albert Lea Lake.
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Stalled bonding bills leaves key projects unlikely this year
The Minnesota Legislature wrapped up their second special session on July 21 without passing a much anticipated public construction package, which would have funded numerous park and trail projects. Now, all hope rests on a third special session, which Gov. Walz will likely call in August to extend his peacetime emergency powers.
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Legislature adjourns with much at stake in Special Session
When the Legislature adjourned on May 18, it did so without passing either a Bonding bill or a LCCMR bill – two of the most critical items of interest to all Parks & Trails advocates and supporters. Disagreements over the pandemic response and the size …
Status of 2020 Legislative Priority – Investing in metropolitan regional parks and trails
One of our priorities during the 2020 Legislature is to supports the Metropolitan Council’s request for state bonding funds, which are partially matched by the Metropolitan Council, to improve and expand the Metropolitan Regional Parks System.. Legislative Process Status FormatDateAmountDocMetropolitan CouncilRequestJanuary 2020$15 millionPDFGov. Tim WalzRecommendationJanuary ...
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Time to urge legislators to support parks and trails
Now that the four Minnesota House and Senate caucus leaders have agreed to a midnight, Saturday, May 9 deadline for bills, we are expecting a flurry of activity as lawmakers race to complete a long list of priorities, including the omnibus bonding and tax bills. Of particular interest will be whether or not the Democrat-controlled House and the Republican-controlled Senate can reconcile significant partisan differences to pass these bills.
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Legislative efforts focused on COVID-19, but bonding bill could still happen later in session
The 2020 legislative session isn’t turning out the way any of us expected. COVID-19 has altered all aspects of daily life in Minnesota (and around the world), and that includes Parks & Trails Council’s advocacy efforts at the state capitol. As you know, this is a rapidly changing situation and many people across our state agencies, legislature, and governor’s office are working hard to respond to this unprecedented emergency.
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Hayes Lake State Park saved from an OHV campground
After a lengthy public-input and planning process that was designed to weigh the best location for an off-highway vehicle (OHV) campground in Northwestern Minnesota, the MnDNR is recommending the best location as Beltrami Island State Forest rather than Hayes Lake State Park.
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2019 Legislative Session Recap
The 2019 Legislative Session wrapped up with Gov. Tim Walz signing the omnibus budget bills into law on May 31. Despite some unsettling moments in the midst of session, when the Senate proposed drastic General Fund cuts, a compromise was eventually reached and it ended ...
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Legislators’ attempt to open State Parks to off-highway vehicles kept at bay in 2019
During the 2019 Legislative Session, a handful of legislators* tried to advance a bill (HF 48/SF 1568) that would mandate a pilot project at Hayes Lake and Lake Vermilion State Parks to allow all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) to use the campground and access routes within these state parks.
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