The land surrounding the Pine Needles cabin on the St. Croix River in Marine on St. Croix could be permanently protected under a plan proposed by Washington County and the Minnesota Land Trust.

Most of the 27-acre property, owned by the Science Museum of Minnesota, is being considered for a conservation easement, meaning that the vast majority of the land would have permanent restrictions on development and would remain as open space. If the project moves forward to closing, the Land Trust and Washington County will pay the Science Museum in exchange for the conservation easement.

The cabin, at 18037 St. Croix Trail N., was previously owned by James Taylor Dunn, a noted historian of the St. Croix River Valley. Dunn wanted the property, which is now the site of an artist-in-residency program run by the St. Croix Watershed Research Station, to be used as a scholarly and artistic retreat.

Washington County board members last week got an update on plans for the Pine Needles conservation easement during a workshop.

“My tree-hugger heart is happy,” said Washington County Board Vice Chair Bethany Cox. “I’ve paddled by so many times, I’m actually shocked it wasn’t already under conservation easement.”

Priority area

Greg Seitz, a Pine Needles artist-in-residence, paddles away from shore on the St. Croix River on Aug. 4, 2025. (Bennett Moger / Pioneer Press)

The Pine Needles land is located within one of the county’s top 10 priority conservation areas, is less than 300 feet from William O’Brian State Park, and includes more than 1,700 feet of St. Croix River shoreline, said Serena Raths, a planner for Washington County.

The property “is exactly the kind of land the county’s Land and Water Legacy Program was created to protect,” Raths said. “Conserving it preserves high-quality habitat for species in need of conservation and safeguards the water quality of creeks flowing to the St. Croix River … for generations.”

The cabin and some of its surrounding areas would be included in a “building envelope” that would be excluded from the easement restrictions to accommodate the Science Museum’s needs for the property, Raths said.

More than 300 acres associated with the St. Croix Watershed Research Station has already been protected through a continued partnership with Washington County and the Minnesota Land Trust.

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“We are excited about the opportunity to add the 27 acres of Pine Needles,” said Adam Heathcote, director of the Department of Water and Climate Change at the Science Museum of Minnesota, which includes the St. Croix Watershed Station.

The land at Pine Needles includes “spectacular stands of maple and basswood forest” and “some of the most majestic white pine trees remaining along the St. Croix River,” he said.

“This natural beauty has served as inspiration for more than 80 artists in the Pine Needles program over the last 24 years, and countless members of the St. Croix Valley public have been positively impacted through participation in their annual community outreach events,” he said. “It is our intent to ensure that Pine Needles will continue to serve this important purpose in perpetuity and a conservation easement would help make this possible.”

Shared cost

Greg Seitz sits at a desk overlooking the St. Croix River while working on his book highlighting the river’s watershed at the historic Pine Needles cabin in Marine on St. Croix. (Bennett Moger / Pioneer Press)

Under the plan being considered, the Minnesota Land Trust and Washington County would co-hold the conservation easement. The Minnesota Land Trust would be responsible for 60 percent of the costs, and the county would pay the rest, Raths said. The Minnesota Land Trust’s contribution is estimated to be between $568,200 to $1,136,400, she said.

Funds for the county’s portion of the conservation easement, estimated between $378,000 and $757,000, would come from a $4.4 million extension to the Land and Water Legacy Program that the county board approved in May 2024. The $4.4 million came from $3.4 million in 2024 interest earnings and $1 million in unspent funds from budget year 2023, Raths said.

The exact amount paid for the conservation easement will be determined by an appraisal of the land’s development rights value, Raths said.

The easement will restrict uses like commercial, industrial and agricultural activities, as well as any major disturbances to the property’s natural features, according to Raths. The Science Museum will retain ownership of the land and all rights not restricted by the easement, including, but not limited to, maintaining existing structures and trails, conducting habitat management and using the land recreationally.

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Conservation easements follow the land, not the landowner, “so even if the property is sold in the future, it will remain permanently protected,” Raths said.

In November 2006, Washington County voters approved a $20 million land and water protection referendum. The county expended $19 million of the funds to complete 53 projects protecting more than 1,900 acres and leveraged more than $34 million in partnership funds.

Plans for the Pine Needles conservation easement will go to the county’s parks and open space commission later this month and eventually to the Marine on St. Croix City Council before coming back to the board around June for a vote, Raths said.

A 3-year-old child has died as the result of a weekend dog attack in northwestern Minnesota’s Otter Tail County.

According to a press release from the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office, at approximately 1 p.m. Sunday, Otter Tail County 911 dispatchers received a call from a 51-year-old woman who reported that she was driving herself and her 3-year-old grandson to the Perham hospital for significant dog bite injuries.

The incident occurred at the woman’s residence, which is located west of New York Mills.

Deputies met the pair at the ER and through the investigation it was determined the 3-year-old boy had climbed into an outside enclosed area where the dog was kept.

The boy was attacked by the dog, described as an adult American bulldog, and the grandmother also suffered significant injuries while stopping the attack.

The boy died and the woman was transported to a Fargo, N.D., hospital.

The dog was later put down, the sheriff’s office said. The investigation is continuing.

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St. Paul public school students can enroll in online classes if they feel unsafe attending class in person due to the immigration enforcement action in the Twin Cities.

Students and families interested in virtual learning should contact their current school’s principal or the district’s student placement center as soon as possible and request enrollment in the SPPS Online School, according to a district statement. The online school enrolls students K-12.

“ICE agents are not welcome in Saint Paul,” said a statement issued Friday by district officials. “They were not invited to our community, and they have been asked to leave by Governor Walz and numerous local elected officials. The Saint Paul School Board unequivocally joins that call: ICE must leave our community immediately.”

The St. Paul Public Schools board reiterated that ICE agents are not permitted on school grounds without a court-signed judicial warrant and the district will not coordinate with ICE operations. The district also will do everything within its legal authority to protect students and families from immigration enforcement in schools, the statement said.

Board members also said in their statement that their “hearts are broken” for the family of Renée Good, the 37-year-old woman who was shot and killed by an immigration officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

“We grieve alongside the students and families in the Saint Paul Public Schools community who have been torn from us by ICE enforcement actions,” the statement continued. “ICE is not making our community safer – they are terrorizing our neighbors, tearing apart families, and creating an environment of fear that harms everyone. Our community is not safer when people are afraid to leave their homes. Our students cannot learn in an atmosphere of chaos and terror. The presence of ICE in our neighborhoods fundamentally undermines the conditions necessary for children to thrive and for families to feel secure.”

Anyone who observes ICE agents near a school building should immediately contact the building’s principal, said the statement. Contact information for principals can be found at each school’s website.

St. Paul Conservancy for Performing Artists

Meanwhile, Tim Sullivan, the academic director for the charter school St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, said in a communication to families Monday that the school “remains committed to providing a safe, supportive learning environment for every student, regardless of immigration status, as required by state and federal law.”

Staff are trained to immediately notify school administration if any immigration or law enforcement agency comes to the school so that proper legal procedures are followed, Sullivan wrote. ICE is not permitted in the school without a court-signed judicial warrant and access to school spaces within the building are controlled and monitored, according to Sullivan.

Students’ privacy and safety are protected by state and federal law and the school takes those protections seriously, he wrote.

“We understand that this may be an anxious time for some families. Please know that your child’s health, safety, and welfare is always our number one priority,” Sullivan wrote. “If you have questions, need to update emergency contacts, or would like more information, please reach out. We are here to support you.”

Minneapolis Public Schools

Minneapolis Public Schools was closed Thursday and Friday and activities were canceled after a report of armed U.S. Border Patrol officers at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis. The officers entered school property during Wednesday’s dismissal period, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

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Minneapolis students returned to in-person classes Monday, with the option to choose remote learning through Feb. 12.

For more information on SPPS safety policies and resources for families, go to spps.org/immigration.

By PAUL WISEMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has dramatically escalated his confrontation with the Federal Reserve, his Justice Department investigating and threatening a criminal indictment of the independent central bank and serving it with subpoenas.

The dispute is ostensibly about Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony to Congress in June over the cost of a massive renovation of Fed buildings. But in a statement Sunday, Powell, abandoning his previous attempt to ignore Trump’s relentless criticism, called the administration’s threat of criminal charges “pretexts’’ in the president’s campaign to seize control of U.S. interest rate policy from the Fed’s technocrats.

Trump has repeatedly criticized Powell and the Fed for not moving faster to cut rates. Economists warn that a politicized Fed that caves in to the president’s demands will damage its credibility as an inflation fighter and likely lead investors to demand higher rates before investing in U.S. Treasurys.

Here’s what to know about the dispute:

The threat of charges arises from a $2.5 billion Fed renovation project

The $2.5 billion renovation of two Fed buildings in Washington dates back to Trump’s first term and attracted little attention for years. But over the summer, the administration began to complain about cost overruns in the project — criticisms that coincided with Trump’s increasing pressure on the Fed to slash interest rates to stimulate the economy.

Taxpayers are not footing the bill for the Fed renovations directly. Unlike other government agencies, which receive taxpayer money appropriated by Congress, the central bank is self-financed, drawing on interest from its massive holdings of Treasury debt.

FILE – A building in the Federal Reserve complex, which is under construction, is seen through a hole in construction fencing, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

The Fed says its headquarters, known as the Marriner S. Eccles building, desperately needed an upgrade because its electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems, among others, are nearly obsolete; some date back to the building’s construction in the 1930s.

The Fed is removing asbestos, lead and other hazardous elements from the building and installing modern electrical and communications systems. The H-shaped building, named after a Fed chair from the 1930s and ’40s, is located near some of Washington’s highest-profile monuments. The central bank is also renovating a building next door that it acquired in 2018.

The Fed has said: “The construction project identified key architectural features to preserve the historic integrity of the buildings, such as stonework, including marble, façades, meeting rooms, and other spaces. Historic preservation work in the Eccles Building also includes elevators that are original to the building, and historic conference rooms.″

The costs of the Fed overhaul have ballooned

Originally budgeted at about $1.9 billion, the project’s costs have swelled by $600 million.

The Fed cites many reasons for the greater expense. Construction costs, including for materials and labor, rose sharply during the inflation spike of 2021 and 2022. The project required more asbestos removal than expected. And Washington’s local restrictions on building heights forced it to build underground, which is pricier.

FILE – An U.S. flag flies over the Federal Reserve building on May 4, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Because of the rising costs, the Fed’s board canceled planned renovations of a third building in 2024.

The Fed says the renovations will reduce costs “over time” because it will be able to pack its 3,000 Washington-based employees into fewer buildings and pay less rent.

At a Senate Banking Committee hearing in June, Chairman Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, claimed that renovation included “rooftop terraces, custom elevators that open into VIP dining rooms, white marble finishes, and even a private art collection.” In his testimony, Powell disputed those details, saying “there’s no new marble. … there are no special elevators.”

In July, Trump visited the building site and, while standing next to Powell, overstated the cost of the renovation. Still, Trump downplayed concerns later that day, saying “they have to get it done … Look, there’s always Monday morning quarterbacks. I don’t want to be that. I want to help them get it finished.”

When asked if the overruns amounted to a firing offense, Trump said, “I don’t want to put that in this category.”

But at a December 29 news conference, Trump said his administration would “probably” sue Powell for “gross incompetence” on the cost of renovations, calling it the “highest price of construction per square foot in the history of the world.”

The Supreme Court signaled last year that Trump can’t fire Powell simply over disagreements about interest rates. But he could do so legally “for cause,” such as misconduct or dereliction of duty.

The dispute seemed to have died down before flaring up again

The controversy over the renovations died down after the summer.

But Trump kept up his pressure on the Fed. In August, he said he was firing Fed governor Lisa Cook, an unprecedented step arising from allegations of mortgage fraud, which she has denied. Cook has sued to keep her job and courts have ruled she can remain in her seat while the case plays out. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case Jan. 21.

Trump has repeatedly used investigations — which might or might not lead to an actual indictment — to attack other political rivals, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and James Comey, the former FBI director.

Speaking briefly NBC News Sunday, Trump claimed that he knew nothing about the investigation into Powell. When asked if it is intended to pressure the Fed chair on rates, Trump said, “No. I wouldn’t even think of doing it that way.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump did not direct his Justice Department to investigate Powell.

The subpoenas come at an unusual moment when Trump was teasing the likelihood of announcing his nominee this month to succeed Powell as the Fed chair. While Powell’s term as chair ends in May, he has a separate term as a Fed governor until January 2028.

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Trump has been criticized for his own renovations

Trump has come under fire for his own decision to tear down the facade of the East Wing of the White House to put in a $250 million ballroom.

The 90,000-square-foot ballroom will dwarf the main White House itself: The Executive Mansion occupies just 55,000 square feet. Trump says the ballroom will accommodate 999 people.

Like the Fed’s project, Trump’s ballroom won’t cost taxpayers anything: It is being privately funded by “many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly,” Trump has said on social media.

The president argues that the White House needs a large entertaining space. He has complained about the capacity of the East Room, which can hold 200 people and is currently the largest space in the White House. He also objects to the practice of past presidents hosting state dinners and other events in tents on the South Lawn.

AP Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber contributed to this story.