WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) released the following statement after her bill to provide critical federal funding for hosting federal wilderness lands passed the Senate:
“Thye-Blatnik payments have been a vital source of revenue for Cook, St. Louis and Lake Counties in northeastern Minnesota since 1948. But in 2018, a suspect and likely wrong reappraisal led to massive potential cuts in county revenue, which would have devastating impacts for communities in Northern Minnesota,” said Sen. Smith. “Today, after years of work with the Trump and Biden Administrations to reappraise and correctly uphold the value of this one-of-a-kind wilderness, I am pleased that my bill to permanently fix this issue has passed the United States Senate. My bill provides financial certainty and security to these counties and a permanent fix to the problem. I look forward to seeing this bipartisan and urgently needed legislation quickly move through the House of Representatives and go to the President’s desk so it can be signed into law.”
The Counties benefit from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) as a world-renowned tourist destination, but they also forgo property taxes and other potential revenue streams.
Congress passed the Thye-Blatnik Act over 70 years ago, which directed the Secretary of Agriculture to acquire lands within the future BWCAW and set up a system of annual compensation payments to the host counties. These funds go towards essential services like roadway infrastructure and public safety, and help the counties accurately plan their budgets.
When the most recent appraisal in 2018 suggested that there had been an unbelievable 49 percent decline in property values over a mere decade, Sen. Smith stood up for Lake, St. Louis and Cook Counties by urging USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Censky to continue Thye -Blatnik payments at previous appraisal levels until either a full appeal process or a new appraisal could be conducted. Sen. Smith continued this work with Secretary Vilsack, including working with the U.S. Forest Service to come up with a legislative solution. Now, Senator Smith’s bill means that payments to these three counties in Minnesota are maintained at least at the 2008 level by federal law.
The bill is cosponsored by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). It now heads to the House of Representatives.
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