The Minnesota Court of Appeals gave AT&T permission to build a 450-foot cell phone tower just outside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. The group Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness hopes Supreme Court justices will agree with a lower court that ruled the tower would be a blight on the federal wilderness area.

The Minnesota Supreme Court refused to hear a case involving construction of a 450-foot cell phone tower just outside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Critics of the plan argued the blinking tower would mar the scenery of the federal wilderness area. But an appeals court sided with AT&T, which will now move ahead with the tower.

A lower court rejected AT&T's proposal to build a 450-foot tower just outside the BWCA, ruling that the tower would intrude on the federally protected wilderness area. In its appeal the company emphasized the tower would be on privately-owned land outside the BWCA.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals says AT&T can build a controversial 450-foot cellphone tower east of Ely, the Associated Press reports. A group against the tower argued it would be visible within parts of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and pushed for a shorter tower without flashing lights. The three-judge panel ruled Hennepin County District Court gave too much weight to the potential adverse effects on the environment.

AT&T hopes the judges will overturn a lower court ruling banning the 450-foot tower. The company says the court overstated the aesthetic impact of the tower and argues it will improve public safety in the wilderness area.

The Pioneer Press reports AT&T will start building the shorter tower later this year, but if its appeal is successful, they would replace it with the larger tower.

The wildfires that have been plaguing the Boundary Waters Canoe Area wilderness area in northeastern Minnesota are contained, controlled or out, the U.S. Forest Service reported Saturday. However, with the forecast of dry weather in the next few days, campfire restrictions remain in the area and some lake and trail closures are still in effect.

The citizens board for the state Pollution Control Agency votes this week on whether to back tougher emissions restrictions for coal power plants and taconite processors. Environmental groups say rules adopted by the state in 2009 do next to nothing to cut down on hazy smog in Minnesota's most pristine wilderness areas.