To the editor:

By way of introduction, I would like to state that I have been clerk of Franconia Township for 36 years and during that time have gained some knowledge concerning how government should operate. My almost 95-year-old mother is the owner of a tract of land coveted by Laird Mork and the Chisago County Park Board for the Swedish Emigrant Bicycle Trail.

This trail is proposed to follow the Northern Pacific Railroad right-of-way which was abandoned by the railroad in 1948 and subsequently purchased by adjoining farmers and land owners to add to their property. In some cases the railroad bed has been completely removed and restored to productive farm land. In other cases, it became additions to pasture land. In our case it provided a road bed through a swamp that enabled us to connect two parcels of land which added greatly to our ability to use and enjoy both parcels.

The railroad right-of-way runs about half of the length of my motherís property. The property line then jogs south of the former railroad and separates a beautiful maple grove from our neighborís field, where at least part of the form-er railroad bed has been converted to field. Here the plan is to go through the maple grove, bypassing the railroad right-of -way entirely.My parents purchased this property in the mid-1950s and we immediately began farming it by harvesting a crop of maple syrup from these magnificent trees. This continues to the present day.

Laird Mork and Rollie Westman have come several times wanting to purchase the land for the trail but never offering any price that remotely approaches the value that this land holds for us.

Imagine my shock when County Commissioner Bob Gustafson, who is the county board liaison to the park board, supported a motion granting the power of eminent domain to Laird Mork to secure the remaining parcels of land necessary to complete the trail, and then learning that the county board had approved the resolution.

The power of eminent domain is an important tool for government, but it must be used with great discretion and then only for the great and general public good. Certainly it is an essential instrument in the construction of roads, where a few people could otherwise block the needed public improvement. It was also essential to the preservation of the St. Croix River as a Wild and Scenic River.

The damage that wanton and reckless use of this power could inflict on the affected land owners in this case is hideous to imagine. Particularly when an alternative route along County Road 37 would more closely follow the original route of the Swedes.
I called Lora Walker and explained my views on the matter to her. She listened and understood my position. She asked pertinent and intelligent questions and I advised her that there were other land owners even more adversely affected by this maneuver than we were.

She obviously did her homework - at the next county board meeting she introduced a resolution rescinding the previous resolution and the power of eminent domain was returned to the county tool box.

Thank you Lora. My mom and I are delighted to say we are voting for you in the September primary election and urge our friends and neighbors to do the same.

John Jackson
Franconia

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