DNR invites public to attend deer open house in McIntosh Aug. 30

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ area wildlife managers are hosting an open house in McIntosh on Thursday, August 30, 6 to 8 p.m., at the McIntosh Community Center, 240 Cleveland Ave. SW.

The open house is meant to encourage discussions about deer and deer management, enhance local relationships and foster two-way communication. It is one of the first steps identified for implementing the state’s new White-tailed Deer Management Plan and will provide hunters and others interested in deer a forum for sharing their observations, talking to DNR wildlife managers, reviewing new deer-related information – including the final deer plan – and discussing options for the future.

No formal presentations have been planned, so people can arrive any time during the scheduled time.

The DNR encourages anyone who can’t attend to contact the local wildlife manager for additional information or to address any questions about deer management. A list of area wildlife offices is available online at mndnr.gov/areas/wildlife.

More information about the state’s deer management plan is available at mndnr.gov/deerplan.

New DNR website application enlists public to help document bear expansion

Minnesota’s black bear range has been slowly expanding southward and westward. To better understand and document this expansion, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources designed a new reporting application on its website to gather bear sightings made by the public outside the primary bear range. Minnesota’s primary bear range covers about 40 percent of state, matching the distribution of the northern forests; however, bears also range south and west to where the forest borders farmland, and beyond. A few bears have been seen near the North Dakota and Iowa borders, and sightings are increasingly reported in the Twin Cities metro suburbs.  “Nearly all of these far-roaming bears are presumed to be wandering male bears, but one purpose of gathering sightings on the website is to find out how far from the primary range the females have expanded,” said Dave Garshelis, DNR bear project leader. “The reporting tool enables sightings of bears with cubs to be logged.” The new web application also allows citizen recorders to record whether bears are feeding on natural foods, or non-natural foods like birdfeeders or crops. But the purpose is not to register a complaint about a nuisance bear. That should be done through a local wildlife manager. Find office locations at mndnr.gov/contact/locator.html or contact the DNR Information Center at 888-646-6367. The only sightings being recorded with the new tool are those outside the primary range. A map is provided on the website to distinguish this area. If a bear is seen outside the primary range, the observer can zoom into the map provided and mark the location. There is no need to enter an address or legal description. All information about the identity of people registering a sighting is considered private data and will only be used by DNR staff when it is necessary to verify an unusual sighting. “Hunters have long contributed information about bears to assist our management program,” Garshelis said. “This is the first time we’re asking all of the ‘citizen scientists’ in the public to help.” The reporting app will be disabled for several weeks each year prior to and during hunting seasons. The DNR bear sightings tool runs on Android, iOS and Windows. The web application can be found at mndnr.gov/hunting/bear/bear-sightings.html

DNR to host Border to Border Touring Route listening sessions

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Parks and Trails Division,in conjunction with the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council and the Minnesota 4-Wheel Drive Association, will hold a series of listening sessions across the northern counties of Minnesota about the Border to Border (B2B) Touring Route.

The route will connect the eastern and western borders of Minnesota across the northern third of the state using minimum maintenance and rugged roadways. The end product will be a signed, mapped route for highway-licensed, four-wheel drive vehicles, following routes that are already open for driving. The project is funded by the off-road vehicle account in Minnesota’s Natural Resources Fund.  Revenues for this fund come from registered off-road vehicle owners.

The purpose of the listening sessions is to gather feedback regarding a draft alignment for the B2B Touring Route. Last year at this time, similar meetings were held on this project to help determine the best location for this adventure route. That information was used to form the draft alignment that will be the topic of the listening sessions. The route is proposed to traverse the counties of Cook, Lake, St. Louis, Itasca, Beltrami, Clearwater, Polk, Red Lake, Pennington, Marshall, and Kittson.

The nine meetings will be between mid-February and early March near the proposed draft alignment for the B2B Touring Route. All meetings will be from 6 to 8 p.m. For more information about the project, and to verify the dates, times and locations of the listening sessions (subject to change in the event of bad weather) visit the DNR website.

Listening Session Schedule
Tuesday, Feb. 20
Cook County School
101 W. Fifth St.
Grand Marais, MN 55604

Wednesday, Feb. 21
Mountain Iron Community Center
Wacootah Room
8586 Enterprise Drive S.
Mountain Iron MN 55768

Thursday, Feb. 22
Beaver Bay Community Center
711 MacDonald Ave.
Beaver Bay, MN 55601

Monday, Feb. 26
Squaw Lake Community Center
52201 MN-46
Squaw Lake, MN 56681

Tuesday, Feb. 27
Black Duck School Library
156 First St. NW
Blackduck, MN 56630

Wednesday, Feb. 28
Clearbrook Gonvick School Library
16770 Clearwater Lake Rd.
Clearbrook, MN 56634

Monday, March 5
Newfolden City Office
145 E. First St.
Newfolden, MN 56738

Tuesday, March 6
Hallock City Hall
163 3rd St SE
Hallock, MN 56728

Wednesday, March 7
Red Lake Falls Lafayette High School Cafeteria
404 Champagne Ave.
Red Lake Falls, MN  56750

The DNR will also accept written comments on the touring route proposal from Feb. 21 through March 25. Written comments will be accepted by email to mary.straka@state.mn.us or should be sent by mail to Mary Straka, Minnesota DNR, Parks and Trails Division, 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, MN 55155.

For more information, or to request a printed copy of the proposal, call Mary Straka, at 218-203-4445, or email mary.straka@state.mn.us.

DNR seeks comments on EAW for Star of The North Walking Trail

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has released and is accepting comments on an environmental assessment worksheet for a proposed hunter walking trail in Roseau and Lake of the Woods counties. 

The DNR is proposing construction and designation of the Star of the North Walking Trail. The project would link about 29.5 miles of existing routes with 27.5 miles of new trail development to create a 57-mile loop system of signed and maintained natural surface walking trail corridor.

Hunter walking trails provide comparatively easy access to grouse and woodcock areas in Minnesota’s primary grouse range. These trails wind their way through wildlife management areas, connecting with some state forests and other public hunting lands.

The agency will take comments during a 30-day public review period from Jan. 1 to Jan. 31.

A copy of the EAW is available online on the Star of the North Walking Trail page.  A hard copy may be requested by calling 651-259-5115.

The EAW is available for public review at:

• DNR Library, 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, MN 55155.
• DNR Northwest Region Headquarters, 2115 Birchmont Beach Rd. NE, Bemidji, MN 56601.
• Minneapolis Central Library, Government Documents, 2nd Floor, 300 Nicollet Mall.
• Roseau Public Library, 121 Center Street, Suite 100, Roseau, MN  56751.
• Warroad City Library, 202 North Main Ave., Warroad, MN  56763.
• Williams Public Library, 250 Main St., Williams, MN  56686.
• Bemidji Public Library, 509 America Ave. NW, Bemidji, MN  56601.

The EAW notice was published in the Jan. 1 EQB Monitor. Written comments must be submitted no later than 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 31, to the attention of Cynthia Novak-Krebs EAW project manager, Environmental Policy and Review Unit, Ecological and Water Resources Division, DNR, 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, MN 55155-4025. 

Electronic or email comments may be sent to environmentalrev.dnr@state.mn.us with “Star of the North Trail EAW” in the subject line.  If submitting comments electronically, include name and mailing address. Written comments may also be sent by fax to 651-296-1811. Names and addresses will be published as part of the EAW record.