FAW Public Input

Use this form to enter your recipe in the Wild Minnesota Recipe Exchange.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is seeking public input on proposed updates to several bear permit areas. This input will help the MN DNR gauge the public’s support and identify any improvements to the proposals. The DNR will use the feedback to inform changes to bear permit area boundaries prior to the 2025 bear hunting season, which begins in September.

Minnesota's black bear range has been slowly expanding southward and westward. Proposals 1-3 remove the quota in several areas at the forest-agricultural interface, to the west and south of the primary bear range in the northeastern third of the state. Increased harvest pressure in these areas will better address human-bear conflicts. Proposal 4 makes regulations in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness more consistent.

The proposals were developed by the MN DNR Bear Committee, made up of staff in wildlife population management and research, forest habitat, wildlife damage, and enforcement, as well as tribal government natural resource staff. The MN DNR Bear Committee meets annually to review bear population status and make season recommendations.  

Written comments can also be submitted via email to Dan Stark, wolf management specialist, at Dan.Stark@state.mn.us, or in writing to:

Kelly Wilder

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources - FAW
500 Lafayette Road
Saint Paul, MN 55155

Please take this opportunity to review and provide input on the Muskellunge long range management plan. You can find the draft of this plan posted on the DNR's webpage. Following this public review period, the DNR will revise the plan to address input received and will release a final version of the plan. 

The purpose of this plan is to guide muskellunge management in Minnesota through 2040. The plan revises and adds new objectives and strategies based on the latest research, management experience, and input from angling interests gained since the last Long Range Plan in 2008. In short, future management will focus on improving existing waters for quality angling opportunities (reasonable encounter rates of “trophy” specimens), evaluation and research, habitat protection, and increasing the opportunities for muskellunge angling when possible.

Muskie management 

Muskies are managed in 101 waters, comprising 2% of Minnesota’s fishable lakes and rivers and 22% of the total surface area that is fishable.

• Muskie management may include: stocking muskies, setting harvest and season regulations, population monitoring and research, and outreach and education.
• Muskies have been introduced in 48 lakes and are maintained through stocking.
• Ten lakes, all located in the Twin Cities, are managed for hybrid muskies, also known as tiger muskies (cross between a female muskie and male northern pike).

Muskie research

Since the last plan in 2008, the DNR has conducted additional Minnesota-focused research on the ecological role of muskies in lakes. Research topics and key findings include the following table:

Muskie angling

Interest in muskie fishing grew rapidly throughout the 1990s and 2000s, thanks to the high-quality angling opportunities in many stocked lakes. Although a 2007 survey found that 80% of muskie anglers were satisfied or very satisfied with their overall fishing experience, they were less satisfied with the number of lakes managed for muskies.  A 2018 statewide angler survey reported 11% of Minnesota anglers spent at least one day targeting muskie in 2017 and 29% of respondents said they were interested in fishing for muskies in the future.

Written comments can also be submitted via email to mnmuskieplan2025@state.mn.us, or in writing to:

Kelly Wilder
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources - FAW
500 Lafayette Road
Saint Paul, MN 55155

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is considering changes to several experimental and special fishing regulations for the 2026 fishing season.

Each year, the DNR proposes several experimental and special fishing regulations. Experimental regulations have a set evaluation period (typically 10 years), after which the DNR must determine whether the change should become permanent. Special regulations are selected from a suite of regulation toolbox options that have proven effective at achieving specific goals. Special regulations do not have an end date, although DNR reviews their performance as part of an individual lake’s management planning cycle.  

The DNR is considering regulation changes that would affect these fisheries:

• Walleye in Sand Lake and connected waters (Itasca County)
• Walleye in Rainy Lake (St. Louis and Koochiching Counties)
• Sunfish in Platte Lake (Crow Wing County)
• Sunfish in Sullivan Lake (Morrison County)
• Sunfish in Green Prairie Fish Lake (Morrison County)
• Sunfish in Long (Higgins) Lake (Todd County)
• Sunfish in Maple Lake (Todd County)
• Sunfish in Moose Lake (Todd County)
• Sunfish in Rush Lake (Otter Tail County)
• Sunfish in North and South Ten Mile Lakes (Otter Tail County)
• Sunfish in German Lake (Otter Tail County)
• Sunfish in Jewett Lake (Otter Tail County)
• Sunfish in Rabideau Lake (Beltrami County)

Please complete this survey to provide your input on these potential regulation changes -- if you are only interested in some of the lakes, feel free to skip questions. This survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete and will be open through September 30, 2025.