Aug. 1, 2024



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*Minnesota DNR News
*




*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
*

Aug. 1, 2024




*For more information:* <[email protected]>

Contact the DNR Information Center
by email  <[email protected]>or call 888-646-6367.





In This Issue

* Get Out MORE funding includes critical dam modification projects [ #link_1491411839600 ]
* Deer hunting regulations and hunting licenses available [ #link_1491411977526 ]
* Regulation change will increase walleye limit to 2 on Mille Lacs Lake [ #link_1491412003165 ]

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Get Out MORE funding includes critical dam modification projects
The Willow River rapids

Dam modification projects are a key component of Get Out MORE (Modernize Outdoor Recreation Experiences) funding that improves habitat, recreational opportunities, climate resilience, and safety across Minnesota. Dam projects are especially notable in a year when flooding impacts have tested dams in several parts of the state.

“Climate change is driving an increase in extreme rain events and flood events, which places increasing pressure on water-related infrastructure,” Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Sarah Strommen said. “The 10 dam modification projects included in Get Out MORE funding make these areas more resilient to climate change, enhance aquatic habitat and modernize recreational experiences.”

The DNR held a news conference Thursday at the site of the Willow River Dam in Pine County. After a 2016 flood damaged the old 1940s dam, the DNR replaced it with a rock arch rapids dam. The DNR filled in the eroded river channel and constructed a series of rock arch weirs. This both restored lake levels and provided for fish passage, something the former dam had blocked. The rock arch rapids design also eliminated safety issues associated with the previous dam structure.  

“The Willow River Dam project is a great example of how aging infrastructure can be turned into a modernized asset with enhanced opportunities for outdoor recreation,” Willow River Mayor Brent Switzer said.

*Funding five key areas*

The historic, one-time Get Out MORE investments total $150 million and center on five key areas:


* Enhancing fisheries and fishing infrastructure ($60 million).
* Enhancing access and welcoming new users to public lands and outdoor recreation facilities ($35.4 million).
* Modernizing boating access ($35 million).
* Restoring streams and modernizing water-related infrastructure to support outdoor recreation ($10 million).
* Modernizing camping and related infrastructure ($9.5 million).

To learn more about how these investments will improve outdoor experiences in the state, go to the Get Out MORE webpage of the DNR website [ [link removed] ] (mndnr.gov/aboutdnr/get-out-more).

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Deer hunting regulations and hunting licenses available

Hunters in antlerless lottery areas reminded to buy licenses by Sept. 5

Hunters reviewing the 2024 Minnesota hunting regulations will find season details in most areas of Minnesota similar to what they were last year, including northern areas with lower bag limits intended to increase deer populations. Deer hunting licenses can be purchased starting Thursday, Aug. 1.

“We’re looking forward to fall. The sights, sounds and camaraderie of deer season are cherished traditions for many Minnesotans,” said Todd Froberg, big game program coordinator with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “As hunters prepare, we encourage them to take someone new out hunting this season. Hunting experiences can be even more meaningful when shared.”

Deer season specifics for each deer permit area can be found on the Minnesota DNR website [ [link removed] ] (mndnr.gov/hunting/deer). Electronic copies of all 2024 Minnesota hunting regulations are available now online and printed copies will be available by mid-August wherever licenses are sold. Regulations translated into Hmong, Karen, Somali and Spanish will be available online in mid-September and are expected in print by the end of October.      

Ninety-nine DPAs keep the same designation as the previous season. Thirty 30 DPAs, primarily in the northern portion of the state, have lower bag limits that will reduce the harvest of antlerless deer, with the intent of increasing deer populations. No DPAs have increased bag limits this year. 

Mild conditions this past winter were favorable for white-tailed deer, but looking over the next several years, northern deer populations will need multiple mild winters to recover after the severe winters in 2021-2022 and 2022-23.

Firearm and muzzleloader hunters who want to harvest antlerless deer in a DPA designated as antlerless permit lottery need to purchase their license by Thursday, Sept. 5. Hunters who purchase their license by Sept. 5 are automatically entered into the lottery for the DPA or special hunt area they declare. Hunters in DPAs 235 and 251 are especially reminded to apply for the antlerless permit lottery, because these DPAs were either-sex last season and are designated antlerless permit lottery this season. No application is needed to take antlerless deer in permit areas with either-sex, two-deer limit, three-deer limit, or five-deer limit designations.

*CWD sampling continues*

Hunters should check the requirements and available sampling options for the DPAs where they hunt. Hunters can find DPA-specific information by visiting the make a plan tool [ [link removed] ] (mndnr.gov/deerhunt). Hunters are required to have deer one year old or older sampled for CWD in all CWD management and surveillance zones during the opening weekend of the firearms A season (Nov. 9-10). In all areas outside CWD management and surveillance zones, or in these zones outside of opening firearms weekend, hunters can also have their deer sampled for CWD, if they choose.

Multiple CWD sampling options are available to hunters. Certain sampling options are available all season long, including mail-in kits [ [link removed] ] (mndnr.gov/cwd/cwd-kits.html) and the partner sampling program [ [link removed] ] (mndnr.gov/cwd/cwd-partners.html). Hunters can request a mail-in kit before hunting or use kits hunters obtained but did not use from previous years. Visit the Minnesota DNR website [ [link removed] ] (mndnr.gov/deerhunt) throughout the deer season for the most up-to-date information, to find sampling locations or to request a mail-in sampling kit.

This year, the Minnesota DNR has dissolved four CWD surveillance zones in southeast Minnesota to focus surveillance efforts on remaining management zones in the southeast. DPAs 233, 255, 293 and 341 no longer have CWD sampling requirements. DPA 642 (previously DPA 342) has been added as a management zone in southeast Minnesota due to a positive detection of CWD during the 2023 firearms season.

For those hunting outside Minnesota, legislation passed in 2024 made changes to the carcass importation ban. Hunters may bring whole cervid (i.e., deer, elk, moose) heads, with or without neck and hide attached, into the state if they are taken to a licensed taxidermist within 48 hours of entering the state. Taxidermists will be required to use an approved lined landfill for their biological waste, reducing the risk of spreading wildlife diseases like chronic wasting disease. Additionally, hunters who harvest a deer within Minnesota’s CWD management zones are allowed to bring intact heads from deer, with or without the hide and neck attached, outside of the CWD management zone if they are delivered to a licensed taxidermist within 48 hours of leaving the management zone.

*Deer season dates for 2024*

Archery: Saturday, Sept. 14, through Tuesday, Dec. 31

Youth and early antlerless: Thursday, Oct. 17, through Sunday, Oct. 20

Firearms: Saturday, Nov. 9, with various closing dates depending on location

Muzzleloader: Saturday, Nov. 30, through Sunday, Dec. 15

Late CWD (DPAs 605, 642, 643, 645, 646, 647, 648 and 649) Friday Dec. 20, through Sunday, Dec. 22.

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Regulation change will increase walleye limit to 2 on Mille Lacs Lake

Early season conditions allow for increased late season fishing opportunity

Effective Friday, Aug. 16, Mille Lacs walleye anglers can harvest up to two walleye through Saturday, Nov. 30. Both fish can be 18-20 inches in length or one can be 18-20 inches and the other must be longer than 28 inches.

“With high angler catch rates last fall, we opted for setting conservative fishing regulations this season because we expected high catch rates to continue,” said Brad Parsons, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fisheries section manager. “Indeed, fishing was great for the first two months of the season. But with the catch and release regulation and windy and rainy weather, far fewer people than expected fished Mille Lacs so far this season, creating room for more harvest.”

As of July 15, state-licensed anglers had harvested about 26% of their allowed walleye take.

Based on meteorologists’ projections for a hot and dry summer, along with data on the fishery and past angler effort, the originally planned regulation starting Aug. 16 would have allowed anglers to keep one fish 21 to 23 inches or longer than 28 inches.

Population surveys suggest that Mille Lacs currently has relatively high numbers of walleye 18-20 inches in length. Expanding the possession limit to two fish and moving the size of harvestable fish to that size range allows anglers to catch and keep the “eaters” many prefer.

“We hope that anglers come out and take advantage of this opportunity to fish walleye on Mille Lacs,” Parsons said. “Anglers have advocated for relaxing walleye regulations to increase harvest opportunity when conditions allow, and this is one of those times.”

State-licensed anglers share the harvest on Mille Lacs with Ojibwe tribes that retain fishing rights by treaty. To conserve the fishery, an annual safe harvest level is set through discussion and agreement between the state and the tribes, with each party setting regulations to stay within their share of the harvest.

As of July 15, state-licensed anglers had harvested around 24,000 pounds of out of a potential harvest of 91,550 pounds. Tribal fishing harvest has been 53,671 pounds of the allowed 65,950 pounds.

Complete Mille Lacs Lake fishing regulations and regularly updated angler surveys that show ongoing state-licensed angler catches of walleye, northern pike and yellow perch are available on the Minnesota DNR website [ [link removed] ] (mndnr.gov/millelacslake).

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