SF1702

Purpose

• The bill aims to prevent the sale of state-owned land that is wholly or partially located in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). It also codifies this prohibition in Minnesota law and updates related statutory references.

Main provisions

• Prohibition on sale: The commissioner of natural resources must not sell any state-owned land located in BWCAW.
• Definition of state-owned land: The bill defines state-owned land to include land for which the school trust interest was extinguished through condemnation, university lands granted to the state by acts of Congress, and all other lands acquired by the state under the commissioner's control.
• Land exchanges: The prohibition does not prevent an otherwise valid exchange of BWCAW land for other land.
• Repeal and codification: The bill repeals a 2024 statutory section (92.82.1.5) and establishes the prohibition in Minnesota Statutes chapter 92, specifically as new section 92.84.

Significant changes to existing law

• Introduces an explicit statewide prohibition on selling BWCAW land, tightening protections for land within that wilderness area.
• Adds a formal definition of what counts as state-owned land for the purposes of this prohibition.
• Removes or supersedes the prior 2024 statute (92.82.1.5) and places the prohibition under a new or reorganized section (92.84) within chapter 92.

Relevant terms

• Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW)
• state-owned land
• commissioner of natural resources
• sale
• land exchange
• condemnation
• school trust
• university lands
• acts of Congress
• Minnesota Statutes chapter 92
• 92.84
• 92.82.1.5 (repealed)