City Ordered to Evaluate Motorsports Park’s Effects on Wildlife

Eagle Lake, Minn., must prepare an environmental impact statement for a proposed motorsports park, an appellate court in Minnesota ruled, reversing the city’s determination that the evaluation wasn’t necessary.

Eagle Lake didn’t adequately identify or catalog the wildlife in the project area and failed to consider emissions from air travel to the motorsports park, a three-judge panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals said Monday.

The proposed Mankato Motorsports Park encompasses 230 acres of agricultural land—including wetlands—and is adjacent to Eagle Lake, a designated wildlife lake. It includes a three-mile track, a clubhouse, car condos, parking lots, a hotel, and ...