Subject: Dark River Restoration Project, St. Louis Co. MN

Alan:

Thank you for calling me today. You were correct---there was a third letter I tried to send you today, but failed, This is the one you need to read. We citizens have been fighting the MNDNR on the Dark River project for four years.

Sincerely,
David G,.Holmbeck
Grand Rapids, MN

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Date: December 1, 2010



To: Larry Kramka

Assistant Commissioner MNDNR

500 Lafayette Road

St. Paul MN 55155-4037



Subject: Dark River Restoration Project, St. Louis Co. MN



Mr. Kramka:



As promised, we are sending another letter to you so that it will be part of the public record. Our next few letters concerning the Dark River fiasco will be to Governor Mark Dayton’s newly appointed MNDNR Commissioner. For the past four years, we citizens have alleged numerous violations of NEPA, MEPA, WCA, CWA and other MNDNR guidance documents associated with the Dark River Restoration Project. Besides the many missteps by MNDNR staff throughout the project planning process, our allegations include falsification of data and MNDNR trespassing on private property without easements to do work in public waters on private lands. We want to make sure that the new administration knows that you and the upper management of the MNDNR haven’t honestly and openly dealt with the Dark River fiasco. Instead, MNDNR upper management passed the buck on to the next Commissioner to deal with. Your actions have convinced us citizens that even though a few MNDNR staff misled your agency, state legislators and the public, MNDNR upper management is ultimately responsible for the Dark River fiasco. For example, blaming the USFS for not getting their EA done by December 31, 2010 and the October 5, 2010 letter from MNDNR Regional Director Craig Engwall to us appearing to whitewash and justify the MNDNR’s actions. Blaming the USFS and saying St. Louis Co. and the USACE thought your agency’s actions were o.k. is irresponsible by the MNDNR. Your transparency and standards should be higher than you have shown. By deflecting your agency’s environmental responsibilities, you have done a disservice to the majority of dedicated MNDNR staff by ignoring harmful impacts already done (and proposed) on the Dark River by a few employees. This will make it harder for other honest, thoughtful and legitimate natural resource projects submitted by the majority of hard-working MNDNR staff to get funding. With the state’s finances and the present political climate being what they are, projects like this and the agencies involved will be easy targets for cuts. We estimate that, among all the project co-operators, there has been close to $ 1 million dollars of staff time spent on pre-project work and planning. What a shame! Co-operating agencies have wasted this much money on the project and then it’s withdrawn because “The USFS could not complete their EA by December 1, 2010 ”. Rather than listening to all the red flags and warnings from the public, some MNDNR staff, some USACE staff and some USF&WS staff and admit to the illegal filling of wetlands, violating public waters rules, etc., MNDNR upper management tried to cover up agency mistakes.

We also allege that your agency deceived NGO co-operators like Trout Unlimited (TU) and others. MNDNR Fisheries and MNDNR Ecological Resources have willingly fallen under the spell of Rosgen theories and “Build it and they will come” theories. By dangling the lure of more trout for angler’s enjoyment, human damage everywhere, hiring an outside consultant to make it all look and sound more plausible and going out on the road to promote this dire picture of the Dark River, it’s no wonder that the NGO’s were duped.



We also allege that your staff harmed trout waters and groundwater discharge wetlands--the very things that they proposed to enhance and that agencies such as St. Louis Co., BWSR and the USACE whitewashed the adverse wetland and stream impacts to protect the current MNDNR Administration and Commissioner. Could the average citizen get away with this?



Sadly, your agency directed the wasteful killing of beaver without clear purpose and need. Had MNDNR Fisheries performed a review of the Dark River project by the Eveleth-Hibbing Area IRM Team, MNDNR Forestry and MNDNR Wildlife staff would have given proper peer review of the project and avoided the wanton waste of beaver (and money). Clearly, the beaver control on the Dark River was not done in an “ecological context” and with little regard for their positive contributions to the stream.



By the way, we are glad to see that MNDNR Ecological Resources canceled their annual Stream Health and Restoration Workshops for 2010. We believe that the voodoo science emanating from these workshops is what led to the Dark River fiasco in the first place. We hope that you also believe this by now and permanently cancel them. We will be sending letters supporting our allegations about Rosgen theories in the near future.



Finally, we want to add that the recent November, 2010 Minneapolis Tribune article about MPCA mid-level staff alleging a cozy relationship between ethanol plant and mining proposers and MPCA upper management to grease the skids for permits. This “wink and a nod” easy permitting process reminds us of what MNDNR, BWSR and other agencies have done to MNDNR violators on the Dark River .



Thanks for your time


Dennis Good President

Dark River Basin Association



Cc: Tim Pawlenty Shawn Johnson

Mark Dayton Jim Sanders

Craig Engwall LSHOC Members

Mark Holsten

Dave Schad

Jeff Ruch

John Kolb

Steve Hirsch

John Jaschke

Dave Dill

Tony Cornish

John Lenczewski

Rod Prusi