DNR Phone Number

The Minnesota DNR and groups of sportsman are teaming together to lobby the Minnesota Legislature to raise DNR license fees on hunting and fishing to replenish a fund they say is running low. The fund is called the Game and Fish Fund which will be in trouble mid 2013. Trying to stay ahead of this problem the sportsman groups and DNR are seeking to raise fees early. Since license fees have not changed since 2001 it is about time for an increase says the DNR and sportsman. The problem was made worse by the Minnesota Government Shutdown of 2011 where over 2.2 million dollars in fees were lost. The DNR would like to see the new higher fees in ready for the 2013 licenses. The DNR is optimistic that the fee increase will pass because unlike general taxes, the increased fees would be paid by the users of the service. Even anti-tax groups have said they would not oppose the higher fees which is a good sign for the DNR in a time of negativity towards tax increases.

A draft State and Regional Parks and Trails Legacy Plan will be available for review and comment, starting in December. This legislatively mandated plan establishes a vision and guides funding for the next 25 years of state and regional park and trail efforts in Minnesota.

The legislation directs the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to participate in a collaborative project to help direct how the park and trail portion of the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment funding, as well as other traditional sources of funding, should be spent for state and regional parks and trails over the next quarter century.

The plan identifies gaps and needs in the current regional and state system and recommends how to address them. In addition to establishing a vision and providing funding criteria, it outlines priorities.

DNR is partnering with the Citizens League – a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization – to offer a variety of opportunities for citizens to provide input on the plan before it is presented to the Minnesota Legislature by Feb. 15, 2011.

Citizens are asked to comment on recommendations regarding:

connecting people to the outdoors
strategic acquisitions
Minnesota Unemployment Benefits
taking care of existing parks and trails, and
developing new opportunities to meet existing and future needs.
Starting in early December, citizens can review the plan and provide feedback on it by visiting this website.

Citizens can also provide feedback at workshops around the state:

Thursday, Dec. 2, 7-9 p.m., Country Inn and Suites, 1900 Premier Dr., Mankato.
Monday, Dec. 6, 7-9 p.m., Holiday Inn – Downtown Waterfront, 200 W. First St., Duluth.
Tuesday, Dec. 7, 7-9 p.m., Hampton Inn and Suites, 1019 Paul Bunyan Dr. S., Bemidji.
Wednesday, Dec. 8, 7-9 p.m., University of Minnesota Continuing Education and Conference Center, 1890 Buford Ave., St. Paul.
For more information, contact Project Manager Laurie Young,laures.young@state.mn.us, 651-259-5638, or Planner Emmett Mullin,mailto:emmett.mullin@state.mn.us, , or call the DNR Information Center at 651-296-6157 or toll-free 888-646-6367 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment that Minnesotans passed in 2008 enacted a three-eighths percent sales tax increase for natural resources and the arts. Of the money collected, 14.25 percent is providing funding for state, metro, and greater Minnesota parks and trails projects.