A bill requiring the Department of Natural Resources to commercially log trees in two southeastern Minnesota state parks, which officials say would be unprecedented, has sparked the debate and galvanized park supporters. The bill will be voted on next week in the full Minnesota House. (Read the story here.) In Minnesota, the Republicans might not run the governor’s office, but they have taken over the state legislature. They are busy trying to pollute what is left of our environment with more dirty energy and now with logging our state parks.  The MN Democratic governor, Mark Dayton, is not exactly protecting the environment either.  He has signed a law allowing destructive mining in the “Iron Range” — which is good for jobs, but bad for the environment.  This new law (and others) according to the article in the Star Tribune: “. . . . . exempts the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board from complying with the same environmental rules that apply to the rest of state government.. . . . This is hardly the only attempt to grant special exemptions from environmental laws to favored industries or projects. In recent weeks alone, at least three such bills have been introduced [...]