(Minnesota) As grasslands shrink, a rural war rages over mowing ditches

[NickB79]

http://www.startribune.com/as-grasslands-shrink-a-rural-war-rages-over-mowing-ditches/415437494/

A showdown over roadside mowing in rural Minnesota has unleashed a surprisingly passionate debate at the Legislature about the culture of farming, property rights and the desperate plight of bees and monarch butterflies.

It’s put wildlife in a fierce — but so far losing — competition with Minnesota farmers for the right to the increasingly valuable grass, flowers and other vegetation that grow along 175,000 acres of state-owned roads across the state.

A bill headed for a vote on the House floor would prevent the Minnesota Department of Transportation from asking landowners to get a permit before they mow roadside ditches and grassy shoulders — something farmers say they’ve been doing for decades without government intrusion.

There is no debate here. The land is owned by the state. That means, as a citizen of this state, it belongs just as much to me and the other 5 million people of Minnesota as any farmer. Harvesting hay off state land without payment is defacto theft, even if the state government has turned a blind eye to it for decades. It would be the same as if I went out into the local state park and clearcut a few acres for firewood. I would be arrested. If the farmers don't like it, tough shit. Maybe start paying fair market prices for that hay, to be used by the state to buy more land for wildlife habitat.

[old guy]

1. Yup.