Proposed Lutsen Mountains expansion deferred as ski resort rethinks tribal rights

DULUTH – Lutsen Mountains has asked the Superior National Forest to hold off on a decision for its proposed expansion, citing a new forest management agreement between the Forest Service and three northern Minnesota tribes.

Charles Skinner and his family, who own Midwest Family Ski Resorts want to expand into nearly 500 acres of U.S Forest Service land along the North Shore that several tribes retain rights to under the 1854 Treaty. Their $56 million proposal garnered nearly 500 comments when the Forest Service asked for feedback, many opposing it for environmental and cultural reasons.

The Forest Service is honoring Lutsen's request, spokeswoman Joy VanDrie said Wednesday, "and will hold on moving forward with the analysis and decision until the proposal is modified or withdrawn by the applicant."

The resort's owners said in a news release that they commended the Forest Service's agreement with the tribes, but wished it "had been in place from the start."

"The Forest Service's approach toward tribal retained rights has changed significantly since we began our process," said Lutsen chief of staff, Charlotte Skinner. "We welcome the shift to honor tribal rights in our region and believe it is long overdue."

In May, the Fond du Lac and Grand Portage bands of Lake Superior Chippewa and the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa signed an agreement with the Forest Service to protect the bands' treaty rights within the Superior National Forest.

The agreement, a memorandum of understanding, is intended to give the tribes a stronger voice in managing national forest and federal trust land that was ceded to the government nearly 170 years ago in exchange for hunting, fishing and gathering rights.

The Skinners plan to submit a new proposal that would include a "clear net benefit for the retained rights of the Chippewa tribes," the release said, with no timetable.

Lutsen's initial proposal called for seven new chairlifts, 324 new acres of ski terrain, two new base facilities, a chalet atop Moose Mountain, new snow-making reservoirs, more than 1,200 new parking spots and new access roads and maintenance facilities on 495 acres of public land.

An alternative proposed by the Forest Service would reduce the expansion to five new chairlifts and 293 acres of added ski terrain by removing proposed expert runs on the north side of Moose Mountain, which is one of the starkest peaks among the Sawtooth Mountains at more than 1,000 feet above Lake Superior.

The permitting process with the Forest Service, which will determine the full scope of the expansion, began two years ago.

Lutsen Mountains recently lost a beloved restaurant and music venue, Papa Charlie's, to a fire, though officials vowed to rebuild. Midwest Family Ski Resorts also owns resorts in Wisconsin and Michigan.