ROSEMOUNT, Minn. — The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is working to make the outdoors more accessible, including improvements to hunting and fishing access.
"We make other states jealous would be putting it lightly. We hear a lot of feedback from our peers, our counterparts in other states, that wish they had the initiatives that we have here in Minnesota. We are extremely fortunate," said Jamie Gangaware, Minnesota DNR wildlife operations manager and wildlife section.
The 2023 legislature approved a one-time $150 million for Get Out MORE (Modernize Outdoor Recreation Experiences) investments. About $5 million is committed to enhancing public access to wildlife management areas (WMA).
On Tuesday afternoon, Minnesota DNR staff and representatives from the organization Capable Partners gathered at Vermillion Highlands WMA in Rosemount.
The WMA has three different types of blinds that hunters with disabilities are able to use, including a hydraulic lift blind. It allows hunters to get a bird's eye view.
The DNR is looking to add four more of these elevated blinds that can be moved all across the state to different WMAs.
"Try it because if you really love hunting, this will be your best opportunity to do such a thing," said Barry Hite from Emily, Minn.
Hite has been hunting with Capable Partners for about 20 years.
The organization focuses on making the outdoors accessible.
"What a game-changer that has been. Without Capable Partners to help me, there's no way I could hunt. Because that capable partner is my ears, my eyes, and they track," said Terrie Schrank, president of Capable Partners.
Vermillion Highlands has partnered with the organization since 2011.
Tim Pharis, area wildlife supervisor for Dakota, Scott, Carver and a portion of Hennepin, recalled a blind hunter who came to the Vermillion Highlands with help from an assistant.
"To watch him come out of the blind and approach the deer... just watching him kind of feeling the antlers and touching parts of the deer's body was a super emotional thing for me. It's just a big take home message that we need to be providing more of these opportunities to the public," Pharis said.
Other improvements will include seven fully accessible parking lots at WMAs and more than 100 projects to retrofit the DNR's current hunting blinds and wildlife observation platforms to make them ADA compliant.
$5 million is being invested towards shore fishing access and improvements.
Jim Levitt, shore fishing coordinator for the section of fisheries with the MN DNR, said there are more than 300 potential sites across the state that could benefit from shore fishing improvements.
"If you're a wheelchair user, it really limits you where you can go. And then when you really look at it and see how many of those are actually in the metro, if you're outside the metro you're really limited to the places that you can go fishing. So this program and the Get Out MORE funding has really allowed us to expand those opportunities all over the state," Levitt said.
Levitt has a goal of completing 100 projects with the $5 million dollars they received.
In celebration of everything the state has to offer, Governor Tim Walz is proclaiming Saturday, Sept. 28 as Hunting and Fishing Day in Minnesota.
David Trauba, interim MN DNR wildlife section manager, read the proclamation at Tuesday's press conference and presented the proclamation to Capable Partners.