The Pine County Board has approved a resolution requesting the name change for St. Croix State Park be removed from HF2209.
The approval was made during the board's April 16 meeting as a measure to allow for a public input process from Pine County residents, local leaders, and State Representatives.
Representative Nathan Nelson has been a vocal opponent of this added measure. He believes people impacted by this change should be consulted.
"Had those who wanted to change the state park name consulted area residents, I’m confident they would have heard the same message. Unfortunately, that did not happen, and I will be opposing this provision," Nelson said.
County Board Chair Josh Mohr told WCMP that the board was surprised by the addition and didn't learn about it until Nelson texted Mohr earlier this month. That was when the board became involved and tried to testify before the committee much like how the Mayor of Taylors Falls was able to during the attempt to rename Interstate State Park.
"We offered to go testify at the Ways and Means Committee, but they said they don't take testimony there, so we didn't actually go," said Mohr.
Even though they were not able to attend, they still wanted to support Nelson while voicing their opinion.
Mohr went onto say, "We don't support this. If you want to do something like this, we want to be informed. We want to be transparent about this."
HF2209 was read a second time and placed on the General Register on Friday, April 12 to later be voted on by the State House.
