ST. PAUL — In an unusual move, the Legislature was asked to provide a solution to the complex land dispute in the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area between the Department of Natural Resources and a developer.
Rep. Josh Heintzeman of Nisswa introduced a bill requiring the DNR to grant an easement that would allow June Lake LLC access to landlocked parcels it controls on the west end of the rec area. He told the House natural resources committee on Tuesday, April 14, that this is an unusual method, but this is an extreme circumstance.
Tim and Dawn Prinsen of Minneapolis own June Lake LLC. Since 2024, they’ve been working on plans for a series of 1,000-square-foot rental cabins, geared toward mountain bikers. They’ve been going back and forth with the DNR, trying to get an easement to access the land.
The DNR denied their easement request in December, arguing it would interfere with management plans for the rec area.
At the hearing, Heintzeman questioned why the DNR isn’t willing to work with the Prinsens.
“It’s really hard to understand how this isn’t just an effort by DNR to smoke out the current ownership and acquire the land through this process of denying access,” he said.
Parks and Trails Director Ann Pierce told the committee that granting the easement would create a “perpetual Swiss cheese” of land control.
Around 150 letters in opposition to the legislation were submitted Sunday and Monday. Sarah Nelson Katzenberger, co-owner of Cuyuna Outfitters in Crosby, wrote one of them.
“We really view the recreation area as a kind of like a mini-Boundary Waters experience,” she said in an interview. “I think what makes Cuyuna unique is that there are not really any residences on most of the chain of lakes.”
She’s concerned with how the Prinsens’ cabins would affect Cuyuna’s silent sports atmosphere. Prinsen told the committee the project wouldn’t replicate major resorts on nearby Gull Lake.
“We’re not proposing a commercial atmosphere. This is not Madden’s or Cragun’s or Grand View,” he said. “This is silent sports, something we would very near and dear and something that we want to help.”
But Katzenberger said business owners in the area are still wary.
Prinsen has said the project has overwhelming local support, but many haven’t had a chance to share their thoughts. Threats to prevent access to parts of the rec area have left a sour taste in people’s mouths.
“It’s like that Spiderman comic, where every Spiderman is pointing at the other Spiderman,” she said. “Everyone is holding each other hostage.
“ ... We’re all just waiting for springtime. We’re all waiting for the trails to open. We wait with such anticipation this time of year for things to green up and the dirt to be ready to ride. ... And so to be walking into it with this level of anxiety this year because of the situation, it’s just been hard on everyone, and it just feels unnecessary.”
The DNR did not immediately respond to a question of whether contested areas of the rec area will be open as normal this summer.
Prinsen said he’ll be meeting with community members Wednesday afternoon. He’ll also be at the rec area’s citizen advisory council meeting 6 p.m. Wednesday at Crosby City Hall.
“My community engagement continues,” Prinsen said. “And Patrick [owner of Red Raven in Crosby] and I will, I think, come to an understanding of why this is good. That’s my hope.”
Heintzeman’s bill was laid over for possible inclusion in a larger package.
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