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Greater Minnesota
The Associated Press
Duluth

Forest Service rejects plan to expand Minnesota's Lutsen Mountains ski area

A person skis down a groomed piste
Skiing at Lutsen Mountains.
Patrick Corduroy for The Current

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The U.S. Forest Service said Friday it has rejected the expansion plans of Lutsen Mountains, one of the premier skiing destinations in the Midwest.

Lutsen leaders had hoped to expand onto 495 acres of public land in the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota so they could add more runs, lifts and other facilities and essentially double the skiable terrain in the Sawtooth Mountains along the North Shore of Lake Superior.

In rejecting the permit application, the Forest Service cited impacts on tribal resources such as sugar maple stands, negative effects for users of the Superior Hiking Trail and backcountry skiers, and other impacts to the environment.

The company has until Oct. 10 to file objections. It asked the Forest Service last month to defer a decision indefinitely while it consulted with three Ojibwe tribes that hold treaty rights in the area.

The resort signed a memorandum of understanding with them in May, and asked the Forest Service to give it time to modify its proposal and reach a solution that would benefit the tribes.

The company promoted the additional skiing opportunities and economic benefits that the project would bring to the area, including more tourism and jobs. But Thomas Hall, supervisor of the Superior National Forest, concluded that negative impacts would outweigh the benefits.