The Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources intends to "sell" 80,000 acres of land in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area to the federal government. The as yet unspecified amount of the sale price will be used to establish a fund to finance public education, which is what the state-owned property was originally meant to do, chiefly through mineral and logging rights. A payment, of whatever scope, will mean that the land has been exchanged for money that will presumably be invested and receive an annual return.
This could end up being a bad bargain in a number of ways, regardless of the price. The federal government already owns about 640 million acres of the US, close to 28% of the entire country. In fact, it also owns and manages over 3 1/2 million acres in Minnesota itself, about the same area as the state of Connecticut. But the DNR and BLM haven't been able to consummate a land swap that would give the state title to property that could be rented or leased in perpetuity and that would, like all property, increase in value as time passes.
If no property could be found that would suit both entities, the feds have plenty more in other states that could be traded as well, 4 1/2 million acres in Florida, 24 million acres in New Mexico, and 45 1/2 million acres in California. Since much of northern Minnesota has extensive mineral deposits, any exchange should include property with a similar or greater value. The Gopher folks shouldn't accept filthy lucre for their priceless land. They should receive more land in return.
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