Duluth greenspace, tax forfeit land, and the County. By Nancy Nelson, DPPA member "Land is not merely soil; it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants, and animals. We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. That land is a community is the basic concept of ecology, but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics." These are the words of Aldo Leopold, written in the 1940s. Have things changed significantly since Leopold wrote these words more than fifty years ago? Have we moved closer to seeing ourselves as members of the land community? Bitter and angry battles are still fought regularly over the way we use land. Our society seems unable to find a balance between viewing land as an economic resource that should be sold off to increase the tax base and viewing land as a crucial and irreplaceable part of the interdependent living community. In Duluth, undeveloped greenspaces are the focus of many of these land use battles, and the outcome of each battle depends greatly on who owns the land. Many of Duluth's greenspaces are "tax forfeited land," which is land that was once privately owned, but because taxes were not paid, ownership has reverted to the State of Minnesota. All tax forfeited land is managed by the county in which it is located. In St. Louis County, the Land Department is responsible for the management of approximately 900,000 acres of tax-forfeited lands. According to the county's web site, the Land Department is an enterprise operation which generates a cash flow that exceeds expenses. Income sources include land sales and timber sales. The financial return is distributed to the county, cities, school districts, and townships. Each parcel of tax forfeited land must be classified as "nonconservation" or "conservation." "Nonconservation" lands can be sold at public auction while "conservation" lands are withheld from sale. According to the state statute that governs tax-forfeited lands, if the lands are located within the boundaries of an organized town, the classification or reclassification and sale must first be approved by the governing body of the municipality in which the lands are located. This means that the city of Duluth and the County Board must work cooperatively on the management of tax forfeited lands within the city. For many years, Duluth has maintained thousands of acres of undeveloped tax forfeited land in conservation. Much of the land in Duluth's greenbelt is tax forfeited land, including portions of some parks (for example the upper portions of Lester Park). The city also uses this system to acquire land for public purposes such as stormwater management or road construction as well as to assemble larger land packages for possible development projects. Recently, the St. Louis County Board has taken the position that tax forfeited land cannot be held in conservation indefinitely. The County Attorney's interpretation of the state statute indicates that if the city wishes to hold on to tax forfeited parcels, the city must act within six months to permanently acquire the land. If the city does not act in that time period the land will be sold. As a result, the city of Duluth is currently reviewing all tax forfeited properties within its boundaries. The purpose of the review is to designate an intended use for each parcel, for example for public green space/recreation, public utilities, community development, or for sale to the highest bidder. The decision-makers for this process are the Planning Commission, which will provide recommendations to the City Council, which will request that the tax forfeited land be handled accordingly by the County Board, which is the ultimate authority. The review of tax forfeited property is being carried out in four phases, and the city intends to complete the entire review process before bringing the recommendations from Phases 1-4 to the City Council and the County Board. According to the city's web site, the estimated time for City Council and County Board consideration is early 2005. (For more information about the city's process, visit the web site at http://www.ci.duluth.mn.us/city/planning/tflandindex.htm.) To learn more about how the County Board makes land use decisions, please join the DPPA for a two-part forum that will include representatives from both city and county government. The forums will begin at 7 p.m. on February 23 and March 9 in the 3rd floor conference room at the DeWitt Seitz Building in Canal Park. These articles are retained on the web for historical interest and do not necessarily reflect the views or goals of DPPA today.

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