Spirit Mountain Northern Hardwood Forest
STATUS: ENDANGERED
Map to Spirit Mountain
The Spirit Mountain Northern Hardwood Forest is located on the uplands of the Spirit Mountain Recreation Area on the western hillside of Duluth overlooking the St. Louis River. Partly because it is above Skyline Parkway, and the chalet and downhill ski area are below the parkway, the forest has been relatively undisturbed over the years.
Status: Endangered — Construction of a golf course and hotel has been delayed indefinitely.
HOW TO GET THERE
From I-35, exit at Boundary Avenue (exit #249) and go south for 0.4 miles to a stop sign at Skyline Parkway. Turn left onto Skyline Parkway and travel approximately 0.7 miles. Turn right into the entrance marked Spirit Mt. Campground (in summer) or Spirit Mt. Cross-Country Center (in winter). Park near the small building that serves as the campground/cross-country center. Follow the cross-country ski trails into the forest north and west of the building.
WHAT YOU CAN DO THERE
A drive along Skyline Parkway any time of the year will reward you with fantastic views of Lake Superior, Duluth, and the St. Louis River. In winter you can ski the downhill slopes or the cross-country ski trails, some of the best in the area. In summer, you can camp in the Spirit Mountain campground and hike the forest. Spirit Mountain trails are not maintained in summer, so the grass gets tall and there are occasional mudholes. But the spring wildflower display is worth seeing because it has lots of large trillium. Hikers should have a map to avoid getting lost because the trails form a maze.
Spirit Mountain is close to Magney-Snively Park, which boasts a great system of hiking/cross-country ski trails; the Munger Trail, great for biking and hiking; and the St. Louis River, which boasts great bird watching. In autumn, West Skyline Parkway is a wonderful place to enjoy the fall color and to watch for migrating hawks.
DESCRIPTION
The area is characterized by shallow bedrock (gabbro of the Duluth Complex) covered by thin, poorly drained soil. The resulting topography is uneven with scattered bedrock outcrops, wetlands in every low area, and numerous small streams.
Spirit Mountain has been a recreation area for approximately 25 years, but most of the recreational activities have focused on the downhill ski slopes. The upland forest area has been used almost exclusively for cross-country skiing with maintenance consisting of "benign neglect," allowing the forest to remain in fairly good shape.
The Spirit Mountain Forest is contiguous with the approximately 1500-acre northern hardwood forest at Magney-Snively Park, for a total of nearly 2,000 acres of mature hardwood forest and swamp with little disturbance. The Department of Natural Resources County Biological Survey in 1999 gave the Spirit Mountain old-growth stand a score of 15 out of 15 possible points for stand size and landscape context. The report indicated that approximately 250 acres of the Spirit Mountain Forest met the MN DNR criteria for old-growth forest. The age of the old-growth stand was estimated at over 160 years.
The Spirit Mountain Forest also contains a significantly large component of mature yellow birch trees. A plant ecologist from the DNR Natural Heritage Program wrote, "In my experience surveying natural-area quality northern hardwoods along the North Shore, I have encountered no other site with such a high density of yellow birch of this size. Since many of the yellow birch are not yet old growth, most should live for 100-200 more years."
Potential developers place
flags showing where clear
cuts would destroy parts
of the old-growth forest
of Spirit Mountain.
Four tree species can be found in the canopy: sugar maple, yellow birch, basswood, and red oak. Red maple and black ash are also fairly abundant. In spring, wildflowers such as trillium, spring beauty, blue bead lily, Dutchmans breeches, and bloodroot grow on the forest floor. Several plants of special concern (Claytonia caroliniana and Adoxa moschatellina) exist on the site. Approximately one-quarter of the area is wetlands, most of which are forested.
The first-ever breeding bird survey at Spirit Mountain was conducted in June 2002. Forty-six bird species were identified, and three dozen of those species are thought to be breeding in the forest. The golden-winged warbler — considered one of the twenty most at-risk North American birds — was found in the Spirit Mountain Forest. No survey has yet been done of mammals, reptiles, or amphibians at Spirit Mountain.
THREAT AND RESPONSE
In 1997, the Spirit Mountain Recreation Area Authority leased nearly 300 acres of the Spirit Mountain Forest to a private developer to build a championship golf course and a slope-side hotel. If constructed, the golf course would involve 278 acres of the Spirit Mountain Forest, and the hotel would consume 5.5 acres (4.5 acres of which would become parking lots). Several hundred acres of privately owned land adjacent to Spirit Mountain would also be used for the golf course.
Construction of the golf course would mean clear cutting at least 25 percent of the existing Spirit Mountain Forest, including approximately half of the old-growth stand. The developers plan to remove trees and shrubs from the forested wetlands and incorporate what remains of the wetlands into the golf course design. Although the wetlands would not be filled, they would no longer serve the same ecological function. Construction of the hotel would require the filling of about three acres of wetlands on the hillside.
Portions of the proposed golf course (on the privately owned land) surround a major tributary of Stewart Creek, which currently supports a healthy trout population. The topography in the project area is likely to result in increased runoff from the golf course, and this runoff would carry sediment and chemicals from the golf course straight into Stewart Creek. This runoff, plus the increase in water temperature that is inevitable after the forest canopy is removed, would seriously degrade (and quite possibly destroy) the trout habitat.
Birches of Spirit Mountain in early autumn
photo: Sam Garst
Spirit Mountain is a sacred site for Ojibwe Indians of the Lake Superior region because it was the sixth resting place on their historic migration journey. They have traditionally used it as a place for vision quests and prayers; burial sites are known to exist within the Spirit Mountain Forest, although none have yet been found within the proposed golf course boundaries. Resolutions opposing construction of the golf course have been passed by the Great Lakes Inter-tribal Council as well as the Fond du Lac, Grand Portage, Bois Forte, and Bad River bands of Lake Superior Chippewa. These bands are vehemently opposed to the proposed development.
In addition to the environmental impacts of the project, the bureaucratic process was flawed from the beginning. The City of Duluth did not request an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (even though it should have been mandatory) until citizens petitioned for it, nor did it require a more extensive Environmental Impact Statement even though it is clear that there is potential for significant environmental impacts. A lease agreement was signed with the developer long before the environmental review process started (a violation of the Minnesota Environmental Policy Act). The lease agreement gives an undefined amount of publicly owned recreation area land to the developer for $35,000 per year; the appraisers report stated, "If Spirit Mountain can get a golf course for free — it's a bargain. Most developers consider it a necessary evil. … You should happily donate the land for the golf course." Potential profits from the golf course and hotel would go to the private developer, even though it is located on public land.
In November 2001, the Sierra Club hosted a hike through the Spirit Mountain Forest. As a bald eagle soared overhead, forest ecologist Carol Reschke and botanist Gary Walton explained the ecology of the old-growth hardwood forest and pointed out the important plant species. The hike brought much-needed media attention to the issue. The Sierra Club followed up the hike by providing legal advice to the Duluth City Council and communicating with the DNR concerning the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) violations.
Citizen advocacy in Duluth was a key factor in saving Spirit Mountain Forest. Citizens wrote articles to the Duluth News Tribune, appeared on radio and television shows, and attended and spoke at city council hearings.
CURRENT SITUATION
The public land at Spirit Mountain is subject to the restrictions of the federal LWCF grant program. The City of Duluth accepted nearly $1 million from this grant program in the 1970s to build the recreation area. This means the land must be used for public outdoor recreation, not private development. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has said that the hotel (as planned) and existing privately owned structures in the Spirit Mountain Recreation Area violate LWCF rules. The Duluth City Council and former Mayor Gary Doty were unable to agree on a strategy for resolving the LWCF violations, and the DNR will not allow the project to move forward until agreement is reached.
In November 2003, City Councilor Herb Bergson was elected as Duluth's new mayor and took office on January 5, 2004. Bergson's election ended Doty's 12 years of control over the city. A consistent opponent of the golf course/hotel project, Bergson has promised to find alternative ways to make the Spirit Mountain Recreation Area more profitable while protecting the Spirit Mountain Forest. He has also promised to appoint at least one Native American to the Spirit Mountain Board of Directors and solicit public input in the planning process for the recreation area.
IF YOU WANT TO GET INVOLVED
Skyline Planning and Preservation Alliance (SPPA)
This grassroots organization is working to preserve the Spirit
Mountain Forest. SPPA sponsors interpretive hikes on the second
Saturday of each month from May to October.
For more information about SPPA, check their website at www.skylineppa.org or contact Nancy Nelson at 218-728-1002 or . To join the SPPA e-mail list, send a message to .