Duluth-An Inland Seaport

106 Rangelands10(3), June 1988 Duluth-an Inland Seaport Donald C. Wright For more than a century the Port of Duluth, Minnesota, the Great Lakes.Although 2,340miles from theAtlantic, the with its sister harbor in Superior, Wisconsin, has been Mid- port is just 14 dayssailing time from Scandinavia,Northern America'sgateway tothe world, first with fir and timber, then Europe,the Mediterranean, West Africa, and South America. with the great bulk cargoes: iron ore, grain, and coal. An It is the largestport onthe GreatLakes and the 11th largestin international port deep in the continent atthe westerntip of the nation. Lake Superior, Duluth-Superior provides world accessto a Long before the Welland Canal or the opening of the St. half-millionsquare miles of unmatched resources and pur- Lawrence Seaway, fur tradevessels, large and small, rowed chasing power through the Great Lakes-St.Lawrence Sea- or set sail from Duluth bound for Canada, inland U.S. ports way system. Each year the port movesmore than 30 million and, eventually, to open seas; but the port's major develop- tons of Iron ore, grain, cement, limestone, metal products, ment began in the 1800's with the advent of prairie wheat machinery, twine, farmproducts, and coal and cokeon some growing and the buildingof the railroads. Congress autho- 300 oceangoing ships plus hundreds of "Lakers" which ply rized the first inner-harbor improvements in 1871, and the port began to develop rapidly. Today, Iron ore and taconite The author a with theSeaway Port Authority ofDuluth, 1200 Port Terminal from Minnesota'shistoric Mesabi Iron are the Dr., Duluth Minn. 55816. pellets Range Twin Ports' leading shipments, followed by grains, grain Rangelands 10(3), June 1988 107 products, and coal. The first iron ore docks, built in 1892, feet are available. Terminal facilities also include 315,000 opened modern era developmentswhich have continued to square feet of warehouse storage, a 1.8 million gallon tank the present. In 1987, the two ore terminals, operated by farm for liquid storage and Minnesota'sonly operating For- Burlington Northern (Superior) and Duluth Missabeand Iron eignTrade Zone. The Port Authority's commodities bagging Range railroads, loaded about 18,0000,000 long tons oftac- plant—theonly one of its kind onthe Great Lakes—Is located onitepellets—processed iron ore for the nation's steel mills. adjacent tothe General Mills elevator nearthe Port Terminal ForeIgn "salties" and U.S-flag lake carriers enter and forsacking bulkgrains, seedsand beans. Three government leave by the harbor's two entrances: the natural Superior Food for Peaceshipments to needynations were allocatedto entry and the man-made Duluth ship canal where vessels the Port of Duluth last year because of the bagging plant: pass under the unique and world-famed Aerial Lift Bridge. durum wheat forSeptember shipment toSomalia and Ethio- The Duluth-Superior harbor covers 19 square miles of land pia and spring wheat for Nepal. The facility also is available and water and 17 milesof dredged channelsvarying from 21 for commercialcargoes. In addition, thePort Terminal hand- to 27 feet deep. Three miles of upper channel have been les baggedgrain products, pinto beans, dry milk, twine, steel designated for deepening and widening. Along the 49 miles plate and coils, machinery, project cargoes, and other of waterfront are 66 public and private berths handling all imports and exports.The Superior Midwest Energy Terminal forms of commerce from bulk to packaged general cargo. is theport's major coal loading facility,transferring Montana The port is served by five major railroads and several inter- low-sulpher coal into 1,000-foot long lake vessels for ship- state highway systems. ment to domestic users. For the 11th straight year the ultra Private grainterminals operated byArcher-Daniels-Midland, modern facility set a new record in 1987, loading more than Cargill, General Mills, HarvestStates Cooperatives, Interna- 11,000,000 tons. tional Multifoods and Peavey (ConAgra) are served by 12 A recent analysis shows the Port of Duluth-Superior loading berths at the elevators and can store morethan 70 generatednearly 3,000jobs and a total economic impact on millionbushels. In ayear, over200 millionbushels of agricul- the region of $160 million in 1986. A transit port, it imports tural products pass through the port bound for overseas, andexports cargoes produced orconsumed atpoints far removed Canada and domestic destinations. Algeria is the largest from the harbor. Most agricultural and mining users are single destination for bulk grain from the Twin Ports, within 250 miles butsome, like Montana coal mines,are more accounting for about one-third of the total. Barley exports than 1,000 miles away. Duluth-Superior, just hours overland showed a marked increase in 1987 as did soybeans. The from Denver,Fargo, Bismarck,Sioux Falls, Winnipeg,Omaha, ClurePublic Marine Terminal, operated by MeehanSeaway and Minneapolis-St. Paul, is a crossroads of traffic to and Service, is the port's general cargo facility, loading and from major world ports—five days to the Atlantic from the unloading bagged, boxed, and crated commodities. More Great Lakeswaterways through the St. LawrenceSeaway. A than6,000 lineal feet ofdock space with berths dredged to30 major worldport for America's heartland. 0 Innovation in Natural Resource iLl Management—the Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) Program Wayne A. Edgerton '5E Background tion of increasing human population, decreasing wildlife TheReinvest in MinnesotaResources Act of 1986has been habitat,and inadequatenatural resourcefunding wasseverely recreation and tourism and diminish- called by some the most significant agriculture and natural limiting opportunities resource ever in Minnesota. The ing the overall quality of life. Adding insult to injury, the legislation passed concept also concluded that "Minnesota of "reinvesting" in Minnesota's natural resources was the report sportsmen annually of the Citizen Commission to export millions of dollars, making them the single most brain-child 1984 Governor's licenseand tourist to Promote and in Minnesota. of20 important sourceof out-of-state money Hunting Fishing Composed almost state and Canadian on our borders." men andwomen with variedexperience in business,natural every province and the Commission's was to The report concluded that "it is good economics to invest in resources, legislation, goal one ofthe industries a for and fishing, theoutdoor recreation industry, largest develop plan improving promoting hunting, of our state; and we think it is a request that the and tourism opportunities in the state. legitimate Outdoorrecreation is a one billion dollar in Min- equivalent ofthe 6% sales tax on an industry that producesa industry dollars of revenue be reinvested in that nesota. However,the Commission thata combina- billion per year reported resource." The 6% sales tax is equivalent to $60 million per Wayne A. Edgerton is the RIM Reserve Coordinator with the Minnesota year. The Commission recommended that this amount be Departmentof Agriculture. 90West Plato Boulevard.St. Paul, Minn. 55107. reinvested annually for 10 years. Thus, Reinvest In Mm- .

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