Preserve Camp Coldwater
Coalition Comments on the Proposed Sale of the former Bureau of Mines
Property to the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC)
September 15, 2000
The Preserve Camp Coldwater Coalition is a non-profit community-based
advocacy group. Our Mission Statement is:
To preserve and protect the natural resources and restore the cultural
integrity of the Camp Coldwater area, and to acquaint all people with
the historic Birthplace of Minnesota.
www.preservecampcoldwater.org
The Department of the Interior (DOI) is in the final process of selling
the approximately 28 acre former Bureau of Mines campus to the Metropolitan
Airports Commission (MAC). While negotiations for this sale have been
in process for years, it was not until recently that the National
Park Service (NPS) working for the DOI invited all interested parties
and stakeholders into the process.
The NPS invited the Preserve Camp Coldwater Coalition into the process
in August 2000. The Coalition formally participated in the August
28, 2000 Open House at the Whipple Federal Building. The purpose of
this meeting was to explain the role of the NPS and others in the
sale, discuss the distribution of money, and to take comment from
all interested parties. Many Coalition members participated and came
forward with testimony. Their comments are a part of the public record
as recorded by the NPS.
The NPS then invited the Coalition to participate in the creation
of the required Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the land transfer.
This meeting was held September 8, 2000 at the National Park Service
offices in Kellogg Square. At this meeting, the Preserve Camp Coldwater
Coalition was also invited to sign the final MOA as a concurring party.
We sincerely appreciate and thank the NPS and staff for this respectful
recognition and for the personal professionalism extended to all involved
in this endeavor. We pray that they continue to recognize, and have
the courage to do the right things for this historic property.
Based on our direct participation and involvement, and upon evaluating
all that has been made public during this process to date, the Preserve
Camp Coldwater Coalition now concludes that ownership of Historic
Camp Coldwater and Coldwater Spring should remain, at this time, under
the current ownership, control and protection of the Federal Government,
and should not be transferred to the MAC. We will outline our reasons
below and appeal to all to objectively evaluate the consequences of
this proposed sale of our historic public land.
It is also important to understand at the outset, that the impetus
for this purchase is gone. According to the Star Tribune coverage
of the August 29, 2000 of the Open House at the Whipple Building:
"Plans for extending the crosswind runway from 11,000 to 12,000 feet
have been pushed back because Northwest Airlines no longer plans to
fly large jets between the Twin Cities and Hong Kong -- flights that
would have required the longer runway." http://webserv0.startribune.com:80/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisSlug=PROP29&date=29-Aug-2000
The reason for the MAC to purchase the property is gone. Any current
or future concerns about building height restrictions and public safety
issues should be easily worked out between the NPS and the MAC. So
why does the MAC continue with plans to spend six million dollars
that it does not need to?
There is a reason of record in the December 1998 contract between
the MAC and the City of Minneapolis. This contract allows the MAC
to pave 7 of the 28 acres of Historic Camp Coldwater for airport employee
parking. This is a most inappropriate use of our historic public land.
It does, though, reveal the mindset of the parties as they negotiated
this deal. Testimony at the Open House revealed that original MAC
plans called for multi-story parking ramps throughout the entire 28
acres.
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This land and spring have been visited and used by Native Americans
for thousands of years. Coldwater Spring is located between Minnehaha
Falls and the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers.
This confluence isthe center of the Dakota Universe. Coldwater Spring
is central to the Dakota Creation Story. This land is a Dakota Sacred
Site.
The entire Bureau of Mines property lies within the Historic Camp
Coldwater area and includes Coldwater Spring. It lies partially within
and partially outside the Fort Snelling National Historic Landmark/National
Register of Historic Places District. Camp Coldwater was the site
of the base camp used by the soldiers from 1819 to 1822 as they built
Historic Fort Snelling.
Camp Coldwater attracted and brought settlers creating the first non-native
settlement in our area. This is the very Birthplace of Minnesota.
Water from Coldwater Spring was hauled and later piped to Historic
Fort Snelling. Coldwater Spring continued to provide water to Fort
Snelling until the late 1940s.
Original plans for the proposed Fort Snelling State Park in the 1960s
included the entire Bureau of Mines property. This would have provided
a contiguous ribbon of park land and green space from Historic Fort
Snelling to Minnehaha Falls. This is still consistent with the current
goals of the NPS Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. Transfer
of this land to the MAC is inconsistent with this objective.
Federal Law protects our Federal lands, and the cultural and natural
resources lying within. When land is transferred out of Federal ownership
it also looses this inherent Federal Protection. Because of this loss,
every transfer of land out of Federal control requires Federal 106
detailed investigations, studies and conclusions, and development
of a management plan. This would include conducting a Traditional
Cultural Properties Study for the area. Using this acquired knowledge
base, an MOA is then prepared to try to provide continued protection
based on the findings, conclusions and outcomes of the 106 investigation
process.
This process is not being followed with this land sale. None of the
preliminary 106 tasks have been started. Creation of the MOA is underway
without the benefit of the work that should have preceded it. The
stated goal for this MOA was to provide protection up to or better
than Federal Law, the protection that will go away forever with the
sale. There is not enough time to even quantify, let alone build into
a memorandum, the combined protection of existing Federal Law.
The DOI and the other financially interested parties would like us
to rush into creation of an incomplete MOA to meet the funding pass-through
window that closes on September 30, 2000. As deserved as each of these
projects may be, no one or all of them is worth risking the future
of Historic Camp Coldwater and Coldwater Springs - their current funding
needs cannot come at this great cost.
As of today, September 15, 2000, we do not even have a draft MOA.
That leaves ten business days to complete not only this important
process and document, but also all the other elements required for
the sale.
This is simply not enough time to complete the most important document
of this land transfer, intended to protect cultural and natural resources
that have never been adequately studied or understood. This process
should not and cannot be rushed to meet arbitrarily imposed deadlines.
This land is too important to suffer from any further rushed judgments
or bad decisions based on incomplete information.
Even if all these good things could be incorporated into the MOA,
there is no enforcement power available for the items contained in
the MOA, except through civil lawsuit. This is simply not good enough
for a Dakota Sacred Site and the Birthplace of Minnesota. As descendants
and beneficiaries of these people, we cannot allow this to happen.
While this is the sad recent history of this land, we must learn from
our mistakes. We must work together to stop this cycle of neglect
and abuse. We must work together to take the correct steps, in sequence,
to protect our remaining cultural and natural resources.
We could be ask why this process was not started sooner. Land transfer
activities were initiated in the early 1980s. An abbreviated and flawed
archeological assessment was performed in 1984. Had the correct investigations
and studies been performed at any time prior to March, 2000, we would
not now find the Highway 55 reroute running over and through the foundations,
graves and artifacts of Historic Camp Coldwater. It could be perceived,
and argued, that MnDOT's determination to site this highway is precisely
what put these investigations on hold until this summer.
The MOA process has brought to light the following Adverse Effects
of Sale:
· The sale from the Federal Government to the State would remove existing
Federal 106 and other protections currently in place for the Historic
Camp Coldwater area, including Coldwater Springs. · While the goal
of the MOA is to provide protection up to or better than Federal Law,
it is impossible to build all these protections into an MOA, especially
within the time allowed. · Any provisions built into the MOA are virtually
unenforceable. Violations of the MOA would require civil lawsuits
to resolve. This is unacceptable given the current level of Federal
enforcement available. · The MAC is prohibited from selling its land
assets for anything other than airport usage as long as it maintains
the airport. This is an unthinkable and unacceptable encumbrance on
a Dakota Sacred Site and the Birthplace of Minnesota. · The MAC now
owns land that includes the groundwater supply area to Coldwater Springs.
Their ongoing and future plans call for massive de-watering projects
throughout the entire airport land area. The MAC voted in August 2000
to not conduct an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) for an
major part of this work. Should they buy Coldwater Springs, they could
do the same thing for potential impacts to the spring. The MAC, being
the Local Governing Unit, would be able to kill any request or petition
for an Environmental Assessment Worksheet for potentially threatening
activities in the Historic Camp Coldwater, Coldwater Springs and its
groundwater recharge area. The fox would be left guarding the hen
house. · As people have for centuries, many continue to draw drinking
water from the spring. This water is used and consumed during Native
American ceremonies. Because of this, both the quality and quantity
of the entire groundwater flow to, and flowing from Coldwater Spring
must be protected and preserved. The MAC has not considered the long-term,
cumulative effect of its massive de-watering projects on the complex
groundwater system that feeds Coldwater Spring. Threatening entities
should not be allowed to purchase and control the very resources they
threaten.
· Besides removing Federal
protections, the State Historic PreservationOffice (SHPO) has noted
that the sale would also eliminate certain Stateprotections and remove
existing coordination between State agencies.· We now know through
testimony that the contract between the City ofMinneapolis and the
MAC was negotiated under duress. This contract was anattempt to put
any kind of protections in place since the parties wereunaware of
the Federal 106 and other Federal protections inherent to thesite.
What we are left with is a contract that impedes inclusion of106-type
protection in the MOA. Specifically:· The contract would allow the
MAC to develop a seven acre parking loton Historic Camp Coldwater.·
The Conservation Easement would only cover 21 of the 28 acres of
Historic Camp Coldwater· The Conservation Easement would expire in
2049 while The MAC wouldcontinue to own the land as long as they control
the Airport.· The contract requires demolition of all buildings within
five years. One or more of these existing buildings could be utilized
for a culturalinterpretive center or similar activities.· The contract
prohibits construction of future structures over tenfeet. This provision
arbitrarily prohibits any structure with a roofregardless of its need
or use. Consideration must be allowed for future useof these structures
including a cultural interpretive center to tell thestory of all people
who came to this area.
The MAC has a history of poor performance regarding land and water
resourceissues. Their land and water resources are shot-gunned with
at least thirtyknown pollution sites on or near airport property.
The MAC has performedillegal de-watering, without the required DNR
permit and without publicknowledge as recently as this summer.
We believe that the MAC should hang on to their money. There is nopersuasive
reason to spend six million dollars for a property that willprove
to be an administrative nightmare and a potential money pit. The MACis
not prepared to, and should not have to spend airport funds toadminister
and maintain a Dakota Sacred Site and the Birthplace ofMinnesota.
The National Park Service, though, is rather good at these kinds of
things.The Pipestone National Monument is an excellentexample and
worth researching as a model for Historic Camp Coldwater. This could
be a vehiclefor direct involvement or ownership by the Native People
who hold this land Sacred.
This land has a recent history of neglect and abuse. Too many mistakes
and poor decisions have been made by too many public agencies, elected
officials and staff, due to ignorance, incomplete information, misinformation
and misunderstanding. These missed opportunities will forever impact
Historic Camp Coldwater and Coldwater Spring
The land has suffered enough. It is time to break our destructive
cycle of neglect and abuse. It is time to realize that we can learn
from our mistakes. It is time to show that we can recognize and utilize
new information when making important public decisions. It is time
to demonstrate that we have the courage to change our minds when we
need to. It is time to begin making decisions with the foresight of
looking forward seven generations.
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