Pictured: A storm rolls in over a calcareous fen nestled along the hillside at Burke Wildlife Management Area. It is located about a mile west of County Road 18 in the wildlife refuge four miles south of Woodstock. (photo from the DNR)

At last week’s county board meeting, the board finalized the agreement with the Pipestone Sportsmen on the old landfill land that the group is purchasing from the county. The purchase agreement includes an agreement that will allow the Pipestone County Sheriff’s Office to use the gun range at no charge perpetually.  The PCSO will supply their own supplies and equipment. 

The agreement also stipulates that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and other state and county officials can access wells on the property for inspections and monitoring purposes.  

The most lengthy portion of the meeting was devoted to hearing from Scott Roemhilt, the new regional director for the Department of Natural Resources. He, along with two colleagues, came to share with the board about various DNR activities in the area. 

Brook Hacker is the DNR regional planner for the southern region, which includes 32 counties. She used to work with clean water and was involved with Pipestone County on the One Watershed, One Plan. She explained that there are 15 wildlife management areas in Pipestone County and five walk-in access sites, giving the public access to nearly 600 acres of land. 

The only state park in the county is Split Rock Creek State Park by Ihlen. That is managed by Chris Engebretson.  They have a budget for up to six seasonal employees, but have only one seasonal employee right now. They have had trouble filling the seasonal positions. 

Hacker explained that all of Pipestone County is within the Prairie Coteau Conservation Focus Area identified in the Minnesota Wildlife Action Plan. There are many valuable natural resources, rare species, and conservation opportunities here within the county. 

She also explained that there are nine calcareous fens in the county. Calcareous fens are rare, protected peat-accumulating wetlands connected to groundwater systems supporting rare plants and animals. There are 14.44 acres of calcareous fens that are mapped, and five percent of the fens in the state of Minnesota are located in Pipestone County.

Ben Schaefer, the regional program coordinator for the DNR division of Lands and Minerals, also spoke.  He talked about the DNR’s Strategic Land Asset Management plan (SLAM). This program helps the DNR manage the 5.6 million acres that they own in throughout the state. 

Through SLAM, the DNR tries to protect significant and rare species, protect and restore water resources, consolidate land ownership, improve access to land they have, increase outdoor recreation, and mitigate and adapt to climate change. Schaeffer explained that towards that end, the DNR holds and manages the land they have, and also buys, sells, and exchanges land with private land owners.

Schaeffer also explained the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. “There are a lot of questions about PILT that come up with county boards,” he  said. 

The PILT program was started in 1980 to offset the exempt status that the DNR has on the land they own. When the program started, the DNR paid $5 million to Minnesota counties. That number has steadily increased over the years. In 2021, the DNR paid $36 million in PILT to counties in the state, with $118,163 going to Pipestone County. That funding is divided up between the county and townships.

Another way that the DNR brings dollars back to the area is through school trust fund payments. In 1858, the state determined that two sections of each township – section 16 and 36 – would be School Trust Fund lands. Money generated from those lands would go back to the school districts. However, over time, lands have changed hands and the DNR does not have ownership of those sections, especially across the lower half of the state. 

Instead, they use funds generated from the sale of minerals in the northern half of the state to fund school districts across the entire state. Rents and royalties from iron ore and taconite leases are the largest contributor of revenue to the DNR’s Permanent School Fund. 

In 2021, the DNR paid out $36 million to school districts through the school trust payments. Locally, they paid $96,634 to the four school districts in Pipestone County. 

After the presentation, the board members were able to ask questions about land ownership by the DNR and deer hunting regulations, and deer population management. Roemhilt said that if anyone has any comments on deer population management, they can submit those through the DNR website.