Not just any driveway. In the 1950s when our family lived in Minneapolis, my father wanted to have a cabin up north. As a traveling salesman he knew the northwoods area well, and when a parcel of tax-forfeited property came up for sale at the Cass County courthouse, he was the successful bidder. The land did not have road access, but he petitioned the Forestry service for an easement that would allow the driveway to curve around a wetland that needed preservation, and then the driveway was pushed through. This photo was taken on that curve earlier this month by friends who currently live there. The image brings back many happy memories for me of my non-wintertime walks and rides on this driveway. Photo credit Nancy Eisinger (click to supersize).
I was imagining what convincing the Forestry Service and xcuttingin that driveway would cost today. Legal costs and construction costs.
ReplyDeletexoxoxoBruce
It says "curve around a wetland that needed preservation" - perhaps this gave the Forestry Service easier access to an area that needed work? It didn't go through the wetland itself.
DeleteThe wetland was on the land my father purchased, located right where a driveway would logically go. Forestry let him place this loop of the driveway on their wooded property so the wetland could be left undisturbed. That was 70 years ago. Protection of wetlands is even stronger now, requiring boots-on-the-ground survey with core soil samples to determine the boundaries of even the ephemeral snowmelt wetland areas.
DeleteA perfect personification of a paraphrased "the woods are lovely, dark, and deep, and I have miles to go before I sleep".
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