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Lake of the Woods Draft Fisheries Management Plan, 2025 - 2035

Please take this opportunity to review and provide your input on the draft Lake of the Woods lake management plan, posted on the DNR’s Lake of the Woods website. Following this public review period, the DNR will revise the plan to address input received and release a final version of the plan.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) produces management plans for many of the resources it manages, including the state’s ten-largest lakes. Lake of the Woods is one of these large lakes, with one third lying in Minnesota. When finalized, this plan will guide fisheries management on Lake of the Woods from 2025 - 2029. This plan’s goals, objectives, and strategies will help determine the allocation of staff and fiscal resources to protect and enhance the fish community.

The questionnaire and public comment period will be open from January 13 – February 16.

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Providing your input

Please provide your feedback on the draft Lake of the Woods lake management plan using the following questionnaire. The questionnaire is organized into the following sections, based on the structure of the Lake of the Woods management plan:

  1. Executive Summary, Purpose and Scope, and Plan Development (pages 2 - 11)
  2. Cultural History (pages 11 - 14)
  3. Habitat, Water Quality and Productivity, Aquatic Invasive Species, Cormorants, and Climate Change (pages 14 - 21)
  4. Fish Community Status and Trends (pages 21 - 28)
  5. Angling Pressure and Fishing Mortality and Angler Harvest (pages 28 – 35)
  6. Cooperative Management, Fishing Regulations, Other Management Actions, and Social Aspects (pages 35 – 40)
  7. Goals, Objectives, and Strategies (pages 40 – 52)
  8. Operational Plan Detail (pages 52 – 58)
  9. Other comments (pages 65- 76; entire document)


If your comment is specific to a particular section of the plan, please place your comment in the corresponding section of the questionnaire. In addition, please refer to the corresponding page and line number for the part of the plan you are commenting on. 

For example, "Page 7, Line 7: This sentence is unclear. Please further specify what is being referred to."