ELY- The St. Louis County Board, at its quarterly meeting in Ely on Tuesday, waded into the contentious debate over how to free isolated state school and university trust lands from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

After much public comment, commissioners voted 5-1 to back a resolution supporting the exchange, but not without an amendment that would maintain Thye-Blatnik funds to St. Louis, Lake, and Cook counties under the current formula. A previous land exchange bill, pushed by Rep. Chip Cravaack and approved by the U.S. House earlier this year, would have limited those federal payments to the counties.

Commissioner Frank Jewell voted against the board resolution. Commissioner Steve O’Neil was absent from the meeting.

Approximately ten people had signed up to comment on the issue before the vote was taken and as many as 40 people packed the tiny Morse Town Hall to hear the debate. Those who spoke for and against the measure were roughly equal, and the underlying subject of copper-nickel mining percolated to the surface more than once.

“This is all about copper mining and nothing else,” said Bob Tammen, a former mineworker turned environmental activist who lives in Soudan. Jane Koschak, co-owner of River Point Resort, worried the exchange would facilitate new mining activity in the area and harm her resort business. “I oppose this exchange. It would serve mining and not the people.”

On the other side, David Oliver, who oversees special projects for Twin Metals from the mining company’s Ely headquarters, voiced strong support for the measure. “It’s long overdue,” he said.

Nancy McReady also urged support for the measure, noting that the region’s mineral resources could help the economy. “We need more than tourism,” she said. “We need good-paying jobs. I support the trading of these lands and the revenue it would bring to our schools.”

But Rep. Tom Rukavina, who has been outspoken in his support for new mining ventures, denied that the exchange is meant to further mining in the region. “There is no nebulous plot for copper mining. There is no evil plan and whoever says that does not know what they are talking about.” At the same time, Rukavina said the benefits of mining extend across the state.

Others argued that raising the land exchange issue with a Republican-led House threatened the federal payment system that has benefitted the three Arrowhead counties for decades.

“The Thye-Blatnik Act is in peril if this is brought to the attention of this Congress,” said Ely resident Becky Rom. “We cannot defend Thye-Blatnik payments in lieu of PILT [payments-in-lieu-of-taxes] payments.

Rom’s husband, Reid Carron, agreed. “I pray these payments we get now do not come to the attention of this Congress.”

But others had no such concerns. “I want the federal government to own all the land in the BWCA, just like in Voyageurs National Park,” said Rep. David Dill. “This will always be controversial. I stand with you on this resolution.”

While most speakers focused on the merits of the exchange, Kristen Larson, of Duluth, spoke to a broader concern about county board behavior in recent years.

“Year after year I see the Committee of the Whole abuse their power on controversial issues. You say you value transparency and value your constituents, but that is not what I see,” said Larson.

Impact unclear

In the end, the impact of the resolution’s passage is likely limited, in part because the version of the land exchange supported by the commissioners’ resolution differs from the one already approved by the U.S. House, which restricts Thye-Blatnik payments. But with Republicans still in charge of the House, the prospects for the three counties obtaining additional federal payments as a result of an exchange would seem unlikely— particularly since the region voted to replace GOP freshman congressman Chip Cravaack with DFLer Rick Nolan. “If they wouldn’t do it for Cravaack, they will not do it for Nolan,” predicted Carron.