[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 11763-11764]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    MINNESOTA'S 86,000-ACRE PROBLEM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Cravaack) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CRAVAACK. Mr. Speaker, for far too long--over 30 years, in fact--
Minnesota and its students have been faced with an 86,000-acre problem.
  When Minnesota became a State in 1858, sections 16 and 36 of every 
township were set aside in trust for the benefit of schools. The State 
could use, lease, or sell the land to raise money for education. Then, 
in the 1970s, the Federal Government created the Boundary Waters Canoe 
Area Wilderness. These State school trust lands within the Boundary 
Waters cannot be timber harvested, leased, or utilized for their 
minerals. Thus, they are not generating money for the school trust. As 
a result, approximately 86,000 acres of State trust lands are currently 
locked within the borders of the Boundary Waters and unable to produce 
critical funding for Minnesota public education.
  Ultimately, Congress got us into this situation in the first place, 
and Congress will have to get us out.
  On June 8, the Natural Resources Committee's Subcommittee on National 
Parks, Forests and Public Lands, conducted a comprehensive hearing on 
this legislation. Our goal: preserve and protect the Boundary Waters 
and allow State-owned school trust lands to raise revenue for Minnesota 
education through utilizing our timber and mineral resources.
  It is imperative we resolve this longstanding problem. Minnesota law 
specifies these lands must earn money for the school trust. In fact, 
the State has a constitutional responsibility to earn a financial 
return from these lands to fund the education system.
  That is why I introduced H.R. 5544, the Minnesota Education 
Investment and Employment Act, which will give State-owned school trust 
lands trapped in the Boundary Waters to the Federal Government in 
exchange for Federal Government-owned land outside the Boundary Waters. 
This legislation is needed for the Federal Government to execute the 
bipartisan plan recently agreed upon by the Minnesota Legislature and 
signed by the Governor.
  Our economy cannot wait, and our kids in the classroom shouldn't 
either. This legislation will produce new opportunities to create well-
paying jobs and additional revenue for our schools.
  Minnesota's school trust lands are a 154-year investment in our 
future. Times are tight, and our schools and teachers could use the 
help. Currently, some school districts in Minnesota, including mine in 
North Branch, have classes with up to 40 students and have scaled back 
to 4-day school weeks.
  Just recently, the largest paper in Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star 
Tribune, penned an opinion piece which stated that enactment of this 
legislation would be a boon for our economy in the Eighth. 
Unfortunately, special interests are attempting to derail this broad, 
bipartisan land swap plan, which includes jobs for Minnesotans and 
additional revenue to fund our schools. To swap these lands trapped 
within the Boundary Waters for lands located outside the Boundary 
Waters--to simply execute this Federal action--our State, its people, 
and our students should not endure years of litigation and disingenuous 
delay.
  Importantly, the Minnesota Education Investment Employment Act would 
not eliminate a single acre of Boundary Waters land. In fact, it would 
add Federal wilderness acres to the existing boundaries. The Boundary 
Water Canoe Area wilderness would therefore become whole.
  The Boundary Water Canoe Area is an important and vital aspect of the 
Eighth District of Minnesota, and we will take care of it. As a side 
benefit--the bill guarantees Minnesotans will retain their existing 
hunting and fishing rights in the Boundary Waters.
  Now, more than ever, it is our duty as Minnesota's leaders to honor 
the State's obligations owed to Minnesota students and restore the 
integrity of the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness. This is a team 
effort, and I am ready to work with involved stakeholders and my 
colleagues to put Minnesota schools first.

[[Page 11764]]



                          ____________________