Legislators sing MSRPO praises at 2012 Legislative Summit - urge greater grassroots activism in AIS fight

Jan. 14th - M-State Campus Detroit Lakes - the Minnesota COLA Calloborative held its second (annual?) AIS Legislative Summit, "Do More Now." Over 400 consituents and a dozen legislators packed the room to learn what more must be done to stop the spread of Aquatic Invasive Species in Minnesota. MSRPO was a co-Sponsor of the event.

MSRPO presented an agressive AIS agenda at the Bold Action Now Summit:

Dedicated and reliable AIS funding
Increased penalties for AIS violations - 18% non-compliance rate is too high
Increased inspection authority to empower local efforts
Authority to remove boats or structures already in the water
Greater control of water related equipment like boat lifts or docks that are moved around the state
Best Management Practices for fishing tournaments to prevent AIS spread.

Following MSRPO's presentation legislators spoke in support of both the agenda and funding. A number also sang MSRPO's praises, urging lake shore owners to join MSRPO.

Key note speaker Dr. Darby Nelson, past legislator, professor, writer, member of the Lessard Sams council, Conservation Minnesota Board member, said:

You and others like you across the state have significantly moved the AIS agenda forward ... lobbyists and constituents play very, very important roles... Jeff and his organization... play a crucial role in Saint Paul influencing lake policies... help Jeff in his lobbying effort by joining his organization or at least conrtibuting some money toward that cause. It is an extremely important effort.

Sen John Carleson, District 04, which covers parts of Cass, Hubbard and Crow Wing County, said:

I want you to know ... four days after being sworn in, in my first term, .... I met Jeff Forester and Henry Erdman... Folks, if ... you care about your lakes... and you don't belong to MSRPO, shame on you.

These folks are worth gold to you... Be a participating member of this association....

Sen. Gretchen Hoffman, District 10, which covers much of Otter Tail and Becker County said:

... when you have these groups that will come and present your story to us I can't tell you how important that is. They are our go-to people and I just want to encourage you all to support them....

Rep. Bruce Vogel, District 13B, which covers much of Kandiyohi County, said:

...these lobbyists educate and inform me ... They are good people ... and we do rely that what they are giving us is the truth.

MSRPO Pushes Major Property Tax Reform

There is good news, as with the Asian carp issue, a number of groups and the Governor are committing to tax reform and government redesign. We expect a major reform package to come forth following the 2012 elections.

Incentives for good lake shore protection must be a part of any reform.

The rejection of the Draft Shoreline Rules by Governor Pawlenty is further evidence that regulation alone cannot protect our waters. Local boards of appeal regularly give variances believing, incorrectly, that by promoting questionable development they are strengthening their local exonomy.

The blog Strong Towns does a good job of debunking this "Growth Ponzi Scheme."

MSRPO knows that even though regulations are only a good tool, will not meet our conservation goals alone.

Minnesota's property tax system aggressively selects for ever greater subdivision and development of shore line, and it applies this pressure relentlessly, year after year in good economies and bad.

The problem is best summarized by a statement made by a Lake Vermilion assessor, "We used to mine iron ore, now we mine lake shore."

Minnesota must stop mining its forests and shore lines for revenue... We need incentives to level the playing field for the environment.

Minnesota:

cannot buy all of the land needed to preserve our water quality and critical forest habitats.
cannot enforce the regulations currently on the books.
cannot update regulations.
land owners want to do the right thing by and large, but cannot afford to hold onto their land and shore line.

Incentives should be:

revenue neutral to local and state governments.
large enough to change behavior and turn shore line consumers into shore line conservationists.
fair to all property classes

"Saving Minnesota's Recreational Lands for Public Enjoyment" meets the above public policy objectives.

Welcome!

The Minnesota Seasonal Recreational Property Owners (MSRPO) Coalition was formed in 1994 to represent recreational property owners at the State Capitol.

From a few cabins on Lake Vermilion, MSRPO has grown to represent over 6,000 families that own lakeshore and forestland. Their issues now include not only major tax reform, but water quality, shoreline regulations, habitat protection, forest fragmentation, and shoreline over-development.

We know that families are the primary stewards of Minnesota's great outdoor heritage, owning a full 2/3rds of the shoreline and 43% of the forestland, and we aggressively defend their way of life.

MSRPO is the only group with a full-time advocate working at the state capitol for shoreline and forestland owners. We get no foundation money, no grants from the state DNR or other groups. We are entirely dependent on our members' voluntary contributions. For this reason we can push an agenda other groups simply cannot.

A 2010 survey of over 3,000 families that own shoreline or forestland has shown that:

89% fear that property taxes may soon force them to sell or subdivide their land, thereby accelerating water quality deterioration and forest fragmentation.
A whopping 95% believing that it is "important" to "extremely important" to have a professional advocate working to pass legislation to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species.
Almost 50% believe it is important to advocate habitat protection legislation.
84% want more transparent, simpler and fairer property tax.

The most important thing we learned in our survey was that:
96% of respondents vote!

The MSRPO Board will continue our strategic planning process to realign our mission and change our name to reflect our broader constituency and evolving agenda.

If you believe that:

Minnesota should stop the spread of Aquatic Invasive Species
When we tax land only as a commodity, we consume it
Minnesota's state and local fiscal system is broken and needs major reform
Regulation alone has not been sufficient in protecting our lakes and forest habitats from overdevelopment, and incentives should be used to promote long-term sustainable forestry, shore land management and wetland protection in Minnesota…