In This Issue
Hill Annex Mine State Park in Calumet has been deauthorized as a state park and is now closed. These actions are consistent with the historical expectation that mining would return to this site.
?Over its 60-year history, Hill Annex Mine produced 63 million tons of iron ore and was the sixth largest producer in the state. Then it served generations of visitors as a small state park and helped tell our mining history,? said Ann Pierce, director of the DNR?s Parks and Trails Division. ?Now we are evaluating proposals to resume mining, which would contribute to local economies ? and to Minnesota?s public schools.?
When open pit ore mining ceased in 1978, the Hill Annex Mine site became a visitor attraction operated by Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation. The legislation establishing Hill Annex Mine State Park was passed in 1988; the site was transferred to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in 1991. The legislation establishing the park recognized the possibility that mining may be conducted on the property in the future.
The 625-acre Hill Annex Mine State Park operated on a surface lease on School Trust Lands. The stockpiles and inground minerals within the 625 acres of the previous state park are also School Trust. The surface stockpiles and tailings basins at the former park site are under lease, and the developer applied to the DNR in December 2023 for a scram mining (mining of stockpiles and tailing basins) permit. If permits are approved, scram mining could begin with site preparation in 2024 and operation in 2025. Resumption of mining at the site would benefit the local communities. It would also benefit K-12 public education throughout the state through the deposit of state mineral lease rental and royalty payments into the Permanent School Trust Fund.
State park Passport Club members will no longer need the Hill Annex Mine State Park stamp to complete their passports. Area residents and visitors have several other state parks and a state recreation area to enjoy. Within a 45-minute drive of the former Hill Annex Mine State Park are Scenic, Schoolcraft, and McCarthy Beach state parks, and the Iron Range Off-Highway Vehicle State Recreation Area is less than an hour away. Other DNR-managed recreational opportunities can be found on the Recreation Compass (mndnr.gov/maps/compass.html).
The DNR, IRRR and community partners are discussing how to preserve artifacts in the former park?s Clubhouse Museum so they can be enjoyed by the public at a new location. When any mining concludes and mineral leases are no longer in place, the site will be evaluated for potential future uses in collaboration with community partners.
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The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources invites public review and written comments on a proposal by St. Louis County and the Quad Cities ATV Club to obtain Grant-in-Aid (GIA) funding for an off-highway vehicle trail.
This trail is for all-terrain vehicles and off-highway motorcycles and connects the communities of Eveleth and Virginia to the U.S. Forest Service Big Aspen Trail system, Pfeiffer Lake area, and ultimately the Voyageur Country ATV system. GIA is a cost sharing program between the DNR, a local government sponsor and a local club. The program funds development and maintenance of OHV trails.
The proposed GIA project would add five segments of trail to the GIA program -- the Quad Cities Spur Trail South, two segments of the Quad Cities Spur Trail North, the Big Aspen Trail Complex, and the Pfeiffer Area trail connection. The proposed project would include 31.1 miles of existing trail corridor currently open to ATV use, and 2.2 miles of existing trail corridor with new ATV use. The club will also maintain approximately 20.9 miles of trail that is already open to ATV use and is not a part of this GIA proposal.
The DNR will accept written comments on the proposal until 4:30 p.m. Monday, July 15, 2024.
Comments may be submitted:
- Via email to [email protected]; please put ?Quad Cities ATV? in the email subject line.
- Via mail to Joe Majerus, Area Supervisor, Parks and Trails Division, Minnesota DNR, 650 Hwy 169, Tower, MN 55790.
A map of the proposed GIA trail segments can be found at the DNR?s OHV plans and proposals webpage (mndnr.gov/input/mgmtplans/ohv/plans/quad-cities-atv-trail.html). For more information, call Joe Majerus, area supervisor, at 218-300-7842.
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