1.1                             A resolution
  1.2             memorializing the President of the United States to 
  1.3             order the lifting of the $15 million fee for 
  1.4             maintaining the historic Stillwater Lift Bridge. 
  1.5      
  1.6      WHEREAS, the historic lift bridge at Stillwater is a 
  1.7   landmark on the National Register of Historic Places and is 
  1.8   deserving of historic preservation; and 
  1.9      WHEREAS, the bridge is nevertheless deteriorating and needs 
  1.10  to be maintained and repaired to serve the mutual transportation 
  1.11  interests and economic needs of the Minnesota and Wisconsin 
  1.12  citizens in the St. Croix Valley; and 
  1.13     WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of the Interior initially 
  1.14  rejected the 25-mile stretch of the St. Croix River beginning 
  1.15  just north of the existing historic Stillwater lift bridge, as 
  1.16  the designated area was deemed to be too developed, too 
  1.17  populated, and too wide, thus making the 25-mile stretch 
  1.18  unsuitable for inclusion in the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act; and 
  1.19     WHEREAS, because of the provisions of the Wild and Scenic 
  1.20  Rivers Act, the National Park Service and the Department of the 
  1.21  Interior have a policy of nonproliferation of bridges that 
  1.22  impacts the building of a new bridge while the old one is 
  1.23  retained; and 
  1.24     WHEREAS, months of negotiation involving Minnesota, 
  1.25  Wisconsin, and federal officials have led to a decision by 
  2.1   former U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt, that the 
  2.2   historic bridge may be retained only on condition of payment of 
  2.3   $15 million in fees; and 
  2.4      WHEREAS, efforts by Representative Bill Luther of Minnesota 
  2.5   and Representative Ron Kind of Wisconsin have failed to secure 
  2.6   federal funds to pay the $15 million fees; and 
  2.7      WHEREAS, a federal mediation team produced a report in 
  2.8   December 2001 that proposed only further study and the 
  2.9   separation of the old bridge and new bridge issues from one 
  2.10  another, delaying further a project that has already been long 
  2.11  delayed; and 
  2.12     WHEREAS, the federal policy of preserving important 
  2.13  historic structures is as weighty a concern as the federal 
  2.14  policy of keeping a minimal number of bridges on a wild and 
  2.15  scenic river; NOW, THEREFORE, 
  2.16     BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota 
  2.17  that it urges the President of the United States to order the 
  2.18  Department of the Interior to lift the $15 million fee for the 
  2.19  preservation of the Stillwater Lift Bridge, so that construction 
  2.20  of a new bridge can proceed while the old bridge is preserved. 
  2.21     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the 
  2.22  State of Minnesota is directed to prepare copies of this 
  2.23  memorial and transmit them to the President of the United 
  2.24  States, the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, and 
  2.25  Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in Congress.