Mark Hauck, a representative for the Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources from the Sauk Rapids office, was at the
regular meeting of the commissioners on April 29. He presented
information about green infrastructure mapping.
ìGreen infrastructure is the concept of an
interconnected web of natural landscapes,î he said.
He presented a map which had been created partially
from the results of a Minnesota county biological survey. It showed the
connections between natural waterways and green spaces that already
exist from county to county.
Part of the reasoning behind green infrastructure is
the idea that land is being developed ìfaster than ever and it is a
communityís natural life support system.î
Al Loken thanked Hauck for the presentation.
He said that citizens in Todd County know the
importance of protecting resources, but that the presentation may have
been ìfluffed up.î
He told Hauck that the county has a ìno net gainî
policy because of problems with the DNR.
He said that the county was not a playground for the
DNR to do their projects.
ìThis land is good because we kept it good. We donít
need you to come in here and tell us how to [take care of it],î said
Loken.
He cautioned the commissioners to be ìvery waryî of
planning tools. He said they could turn into pitfalls that could cost
the county tax base and lead to providing services that they arenít
currently providing.
Environment & Land Resource Management Office Director
Andrew Dahlgren said he thought there might be confusion about what
Hauck was doing. He said it was more to give the county insight into
sensitive areas of the county.
ìIt is a tool for us to use in development. We need to
look at what sensitive feature is in the area,î he said.
Dahlgren said that much of the area mapped in ìgreenî
is flood plane area by the Long Prairie River and is not developable
anyway.
ìIt gives us an idea of whatís out there, not to
tighten the screws or buy land to make a DNR playground,î he said.
Hauck clarified that it was not about DNR plans to
acquire any land.
Loken said, ìIf this is handled correctly, it could be
a good tool.î
He added that past history has shown data that was
fluffed up.
Leslie Lawrence asked if the DNR was done now with the
mapping or if they were going to do anything else with it? She was
concerned about freedoms that had been lost.
ìThere is mapping for zoning. Now they are doing this
fly over thing for GIS. How many maps do we need?î she asked.
ìThis can be used as a weapon, for evil. We have good
commissioners now, but 10 years from now, who knows,î Lawrence said.
She talked about places in Washington and Oregon where
people canít use their own land because of ìgreenî changes.
ìI love land and green space and hope to keep owning
it, but these (maps) can be dangerous when bureaucrats get a hold of
them,î she said.