Koochiching County commissioners this week voiced frustration with a state-mandated review of wetlands laws and policies in the state.

The review is a result of a bill signed earlier this year by Gov. Mark Dayton to support and strengthen Minnesota’s wetland polices.

According to the executive order, several agencies have until Dec. 15 to determine the steps needed to maintain a “no net loss” of wetlands in Minnesota status under the Wetland Conservation Act.

Commissioners said the Board of Water and Soil Resources is taking the lead on the review. Stakeholders have been invited to participate in these steps, with the goal to assess current wetland policies as well as evaluate and develop recommendations to improve wetland protection, restoration and mitigation provisions.

Commissioner Mike Hanson said the review process is to include four meetings around the state, with agendas for the meetings to be tailored to the issues specific to the locations.

However, he said the locations and dates of the forums have not been forthcoming. Even the location for a meeting scheduled for Sept. 18 has not yet been verified, he said.

Koochiching, which has the most wetlands of any county in the lower 48 states, and 15 other Minnesota counties fall under an exemption that allows 10,000-square feet of wetlands to be disturbed for development without a replacement plan. That exemption was given to counties that retain 80 percent or more of presettlement wetlands.

Hanson said he will represent the Minnesota Rural Counties Caucus, of which Koochiching is a member, at the meetings. He also said members of the Northern Land Use Coordinating Board, to which Koochiching belongs, will also meet with BWSR staff on the review.

“How they will compress this process into six weeks and not have negativity on Koochiching is up in the air,” he said. “I assume they will go after some of the exemptions. I am very concerned.”

Commissioner Wade Pavleck noted that Koochiching was the last of Minnesota’s 87 counties to adopt the Wetland Conservation Act and did so only after the 10,000-foot exemption was put in place.

Pavleck said the 10,000-foot exemption only allows for a driveway and home to be constructed. 

“We’re creating more wetlands than we use,” he said of Borderland. He said the county has not misused the exemption.

Former Sen. Bob Lessard has been an advocate for the exemption and may help to bring pressure on state officials to leave the exemption in place, said Pavleck.

“He could be our biggest ally,” he said.

Pavleck said the process is “eerily familiar” and reminds him of the deal made “behind closed doors” to resolve a government shutdown that resulted in state residents losing the ability to claim a homestead credit on their taxes. The change resulted in many people paying more property taxes than under the homestead credit system.

Commissioners are expected to discuss the wetland review and its potential outcome with staff from the county’s Environmental Services and Land and Forestry departments and the Koochiching Soil and Water Conservation District.