2007 Minnesota Statutes

282.018 LAND BY PUBLIC WATERS, NONFORESTED MARGINAL LAND,
WETLANDS.
    Subdivision 1. Land on or adjacent to public waters. (a) All land which is the property
of the state as a result of forfeiture to the state for nonpayment of taxes, regardless of whether
the land is held in trust for taxing districts, and which borders on or is adjacent to meandered
lakes and other public waters and watercourses, and the live timber growing or being thereon, is
hereby withdrawn from sale except as hereinafter provided. The authority having jurisdiction
over the timber on any such lands may sell the timber as otherwise provided by law for cutting
and removal under such conditions as the authority may prescribe in accordance with approved,
sustained yield forestry practices. The authority having jurisdiction over the timber shall reserve
such timber and impose such conditions as the authority deems necessary for the protection of
watersheds, wildlife habitat, shorelines, and scenic features. Within the area in Cook, Lake, and
St. Louis counties described in the Act of Congress approved July 10, 1930 (46 Stat. 1020), the
timber on tax-forfeited lands shall be subject to like restrictions as are now imposed by that
act on federal lands.
(b) Of all tax-forfeited land bordering on or adjacent to meandered lakes and other public
waters and watercourses and so withdrawn from sale, a strip two rods in width, the ordinary
high-water mark being the waterside boundary thereof, and the land side boundary thereof being a
line drawn parallel to the ordinary high-water mark and two rods distant landward therefrom,
hereby is reserved for public travel thereon, and whatever the conformation of the shore line or
conditions require, the authority having jurisdiction over such lands shall reserve a wider strip for
such purposes.
(c) Any tract or parcel of land which has 150 feet or less of waterfront may be sold by the
authority having jurisdiction over the land, in the manner otherwise provided by law for the sale
of such lands, if the authority determines that it is in the public interest to do so. If the authority
having jurisdiction over the land is not the commissioner of natural resources, the land may not be
offered for sale without the prior approval of the commissioner of natural resources.
(d) Where the authority having jurisdiction over lands withdrawn from sale under this section
is not the commissioner of natural resources, the authority may submit proposals for disposition of
the lands to the commissioner. The commissioner of natural resources shall evaluate the lands and
their public benefits and make recommendations on the proposed dispositions to the committees
of the legislature with jurisdiction over natural resources. The commissioner shall include any
recommendations of the commissioner for disposition of lands withdrawn from sale under this
section over which the commissioner has jurisdiction. The commissioner's recommendations may
include a public sale, sale to a private party, acquisition by the Department of Natural Resources
for public purposes, or a cooperative management agreement with, or transfer to, another unit
of government.
    Subd. 2. Marginal land and wetlands. Nonforested marginal land and wetlands on land that
is property of the state as a result of forfeiture to the state for nonpayment of taxes is withdrawn
from sale as provided in section 103F.535 unless:
(1) notice of the existence of the nonforested marginal land or wetlands, in a form prescribed
by the board of water and soil resources, is provided to prospective purchasers; and
(2) the deed contains a restrictive covenant, in a form prescribed by the Board of Water
and Soil Resources, that precludes enrollment of the land in a state-funded program providing
compensation for conservation of marginal land or wetlands.
History: 1973 c 369 s 1; 1984 c 490 s 2; 1989 c 353 s 9; 1991 c 159 s 2; 1991 c 354 art 10
s 9; 2002 c 366 s 4