Continued federal ownership of the Coldwater Spring\/Bureau of Mines property–on a short-term basis–is a reasonable outcome of the current Department of Interior environmental review process, one that many who disagree on other issues may agree upon, even though they will not agree publicly.\u00a0The sticking points are about what happens afterwards.<\/p>\n
As noted earlier, an online petition <\/a>requesting the transfer of the property from the federal government to the Dakota people, specifies that the “an environmental restoration of the site by the Federal government” should take place\u00a0“before the transfer to Dakota communities,”\u00a0since\u00a0“the Federal government via the Bureau of Mines is responsible for the current state of the land surrounding the spring,” meaning that ”\u00a0it is their responsibility to restore the site to its original, pristine condition at Federal expense.” The petition goes on to state that “a full restoration of the site means the restoration of Dakota rights and title to the land. Coldwater Spring must be returned to the people of the Dakota Nation, who are the rightful care takers and protectors of that land.”<\/p>\n Clearly the petition does suggest a period of continued federal ownership during which the work of cleaning up the property\u00a0would be done. This is a goal that many others who have different long-term solutions have supported in the past. During this period of federal ownership, according to varying scenarios, cleanup of the property would take place, along with restoration of the property’s vegetation, further study of the plant resources, cultural resources, archaeological resources, and its\u00a0cultural heritage.\u00a0 (In fact, this further study, particularly archaeological study,\u00a0must be done prior to full restoration, so that the restoration takes into account all that is learned.) There does not appear to be any tribal entity that wants to bear the cost of this process, nor should it be any tribe’s responsibility.<\/p>\n What happens after that period of study and restoration is where the disagreements start. Those who want the transfer of the property to the Dakota may reasonably insist that a process begin early on to\u00a0determine what Dakota groups would be willing or able to receive the property. During the period of\u00a0short-term federal ownership intensive consultation with Dakota groups should also take place, so that nothing is done to the property that conflicted with the beliefs of Dakota people. Finally, if the process of transfer to Dakota communities does not take place in the near term, a commitment should be made in law that if any later transfer of the property out of federal hands takes\u00a0 place that Dakota communities will have priority. The details of this entire process of restoring the land to the Dakota should be part of any final EIS from the Department of Interior or it should be something demanded by the public afterwards. However, even it the details of such a process are not found in the final EIS, having the federal government keep the property for a time will allow the time for the Dakota people to unite behind a detailed proposal.\u00a0If the propery were given away by the federal government to another entity, there would be less opportunity for the Dakota to come up with their own plan.<\/p>\n These are reasonable solutions to the current process for studying what should happen to the Coldwater\/Bureau of Mines property. These are not the solutions that anyone is calling for, which means that it is a good compromise for all.\u00a0In particular\u00a0this is not\u00a0the way the National Park Service has viewed the current process.\u00a0The Park Service wants to limit the\u00a0issues and the discussion\u00a0to the cleanup and restoration process. This is why\u00a0many people who have been involved in the Coldwater Spring issues for a long time have a\u00a0problem with the current Bureau of Mines comment period.<\/p>\n The Park Service has\u00a0put the cart before the horse yet again. (We could tell you stories about\u00a0its having done so in\u00a0the past.) \u00a0Having announced\u00a0the decision in December about keeping the Coldwater property in federal hands and cleaning it up,\u00a0the Park Service had its open house on\u00a0February 23\u00a0to get comment on how to accomplish the cleanup. The current 30-day comment period is to allow further comment on that question. But many of those who want to comment have real reservations about continued federal ownership. By commenting they appear to be accepting the initial premise. Why should they submit comment on something when they don’t agree with the preferred outcome proposed by the Department of Interior?\u00a0<\/p>\n The answer is that everyone wants the property to be cleaned up in some way. Some might suggest that a few buildings should remain standing for re-use. The Park Service does not appear to want that, but that is something that could be part of the comments submitted. Others may want a lot of different things in terms of the cleanup process. These are all important points to make in submitting comments. But it is also important that those who want to further the prospect of Dakota ownership of the property not only continue to insist that this transfer must take place at some point in the future, but also offer a detailed and constructive plan for this to be implemented.\u00a0 In the current comment period details about the restoration of the land to the Dakota are as important about the details of\u00a0restoration of Coldwater’s plant populations.<\/p>\n Here are the details from the Park Service about how to submit comments:<\/p>\n The [Feb. 23] \u00a0meeting opened a 30 day comment period which ends March 25, 2009. While comments were received at the open house, additional comments are welcome by e-mail, fax (651-290-3214), or by mail either letter or comment card and mailing to:<\/p>\n Bureau of Mines\/Coldwater Project Continued federal ownership of the Coldwater Spring\/Bureau of Mines property–on a short-term basis–is a reasonable outcome of the current Department of Interior environmental review process, one that many who disagree on other issues may agree upon, even though they will not agree publicly.\u00a0The sticking points are about what happens afterwards. As noted earlier, an online … Continue reading Short-term federal ownership of Coldwater Spring is a good short-term outcome<\/span>
\nMississippi National River and Recreation Area
\n111 Kellogg Boulevard East, Suite 105
\nSt. Paul, MN 55101<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"