Committee advances Cloquet Forestry Center land transfer amid calls for greater transparency and long-term assurances

The Minnesota Senate committee recommended passage of Senate File 1754, a bill to transfer ownership of the 3,400-acre Cloquet Forestry Center to the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota to enable a subsequent transfer to the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

Senator Sarah Pappas, the bill author, said returning ownership to the Fond du Lac Band was a priority identified through ongoing university-tribal communications. "Returning ownership of the Cloquet Forestry Center to the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa was identified as a priority," Pappas said, introducing the measure.

Bruce Savage, chairman of the Fond du Lac Band, said the parties have an "agreement in principle" that would allow the university to continue operating and maintaining the Cloquet Forestry Center for research, education and outreach after the transfer. Savage said the agreement would not require the university to pay rent, has a seven-year term, and would automatically continue unless one party gives at least six years' notice to…