A clarion call to all concerned citizens to contact your county commissioner or better yet — attend the upcoming board meeting presently scheduled at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in the county boardroom on the second floor of the historic courthouse in Albert Lea.

This is your opportunity to support the ongoing efforts of many residents, both past and present, to preserve and enhance the natural beauty and diverse ecosystem within and around Nunda Township by voicing your oppositions to a proposed mining operation in the shoreland district of Lower Twin Lake. Any effort to industrialize this natural setting has the potential, both foreseen and unforeseen, to disrupt the delicate balance between humans and nature that has so obviously flourished in Nunda Township for decades.

Ask any hunter, bird enthusiast, hiker and the like how to draw in wildlife. One of the first things you will hear is, “You have to be quiet.” As we can all imagine, a mining operation would be anything, but quiet.

Longtime area farmers have invested in the vision of preserving Nunda Township for the enjoyment of others, especially areas bordering both upper and lower Twin Lakes, including the dedication of land culminating in the formation of the largest Freeborn County Park: White Woods. The proposed mining site is only 1,100 feet — less than one-fourth of a mile from the north border of White Woods.

This proposed mining and road material crushing operation is also too close to federal land open to hunting and to camping at Hickory Hills.

Make no mistake: Nunda Township was progressive in its “Blue Zone” initiatives long before Dan Buettner’s visit to our fair city. The stewardship of landowners throughout the Twin Lakes area is evident in their vision of maintaining the land for the ongoing co-existence of humans and nature. The benefits reaped through access to pristine wildlife areas are exponential.

We invite you to join us in saying “No” to the alteration of this unique habitat for this generation and future generations.

If you cannot attend the county board meeting, take a moment to contact your county commissioners:

• Dan Belshan: 507-448-3332 or dbelshan@clear.lakes.com

• Mike Lee: 507-402-1211 or ccmikelee@yahoo.com

• Glen Mathiason: 507-383-8274 or glenmath@frontiernet.net

• Jim Nelson: 507-383-2605

• Chris Shoff: 507-373-0980 or christopher.shoff@co.freeborn.mn.us

 

Lori Pieper

Twin Lakes