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Easement, bridge may jeopardize grants for mouth of Gratiot purchase
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Page 2: County Commissioners divided on easement issue
Keweenaw County Commissioner Frank Stubenrauch confirmed the easement (reportedly drafted on Sept. 21, 2001) was noticed in the Courthouse just before it was brought to his attention very recently, the day before the sale was to close.
"We were ready to turn over the check the next morning," Stubenrauch said Saturday evening, noting he regretted being unable to attend the NWC meeting.
Stubenrauch said the question is whether or not the Department of Natural Resources (which offers the land acquisition grant through the Trust Fund) will accept the easement.
"That (the easement) creates a problem: The state (DNR) is supposed to be made aware of any
easement," Stubenrauch said. "They'll approve a long-standing easement, but this was a new
one."
Stubenrauch noted landowner International Paper/Lake Superior Land Co. opposes blocking any property owners off from access to their property.
"I just hope we can work through this thing," he added.
As for the NAWCA grant, Stubenrauch said he attended a recent meeting with the NAWCA representatives and is now reading a copy of the grant. He said he was not sure how he would vote on the
county's accepting the NAWCA grant should that be an option. Before the NAWCA grant was awarded, the Keweenaw County Board voted to use
taxpayers' funds for the match to the Trust Fund grant because of concerns about possible restrictions in the NAWCA grant.
Griffith said the NAWCA representatives who spoke to him and county officials on Oct. 1 said the NAWCA grant actually has fewer specific, stated restrictions than the Trust Fund grant.
Said Stubenrauch, "I find it hard to believe it would be less restrictive than the DNR grant because (the NAWCA grant) is protective of
wetlands."
Keweenaw County Commissioner Gordon Roberts, who attended Saturday's NWC meeting, said he believed it would be
"political suicide" for the county to use taxpayers' money for the Trust Fund grant match now that the NAWCA grant has been awarded.
"I think there will be a majority (on the County Board) that will accept the (NAWCA)
grant," Roberts said at the NWC meeting. "I'm 99 percent sure of that."
Griffith said he believed most county and township officials, with the exception of County Commissioners Jeffrey Turnquist and Eric Bjorn, are opposed to the easement. Griffith has also suggested local residents and taxpayers opposed to the easement and the potential bridge contact International Paper Board members and state legislators to express their opposition.
"I don't think this local action is truly I.P. corporate policy," Griffith said.
 Glen Tolksdorf, realtor and forestry consultant, who is one of the Section 12 property owners, said he has been talking to Lake Superior Land Company about this route across the river for several years.
"The easement at the mouth of the Gratiot is something that's been in the works for several years with Lake Superior Land
Company," Tolksdorf said. "They supported our fight through the court system to get access to Section 12
-- for myself and seven families … (LSLC) told us it was their policy not to landlock
owners."
Asked why LSLC waited until Sept. 21 to propose the easement as part of the mouth of the Gratiot purchase, Tolksdorf replied,
"Lake Superior Land Company waited until we exercised all our options to access our property. We had no other form of
access."
Tolksdorf recently lost his lawsuit against the Griffiths, NWC, the Foley family (adjacent landowners in Section 13) and Allouez Township. The courts ruled that the Griffiths had the right to restrict access through their property to the historic recreational and timbering uses.
According to Tolksdorf, the Griffiths allow access to the Section 12 properties by foot and have gated the roads to prevent access to vehicles.
John Griffith said the gates are open and Section 12 property owners can drive through his property for recreational and timbering purposes, but not for the unlimited access they requested and were denied by local and higher courts.
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