Minnesota River vs. Ski Resort Jobs

In the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Dennis Anderson describes a fight between ski resort managers and river advocates over the health of Minnesota’s Poplar River, a designated trout stream. Apparently, the owners of Lutsen have an unofficial “waiver” — driven by the need for jobs — to take water at will from the river, and impending legislation to make the exemption permanent has drawn the attention of conservations and luminaries like Gary Loomis.

“Without permission, beginning in 2001, Lutsen took 60 million gallons of water a year from the Poplar River to make artificial snow as cheaply as possible, according to the DNR. The ski area’s permit called for 12.6 million gallons. In some years since, the extraction has jumped to as high as 108 million gallons, according to the DNR.”