ST PAUL, Minn. — Editor's Note: The video above first aired on March 4, 2022.
Hunters in parts of Minnesota will have significantly more options beginning Sept. 1 when the Department of Natural Resources kicks off its annual Walk-In Access Lands initiative.
The program, which started in 2011, allows hunters to access nearly 29,000 acres of private land in 39 counties, mostly in western and south-central Minnesota. All they need is a $3 Walk-In Access validation, and hunters can harvest from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes before sunset during all legal and open hunting seasons from Sept. 1 to May 31.
With a validation, no additional landowner contact or permission is needed, but here are what hunters are asked to do to keep the program going:
- Please take care of the land. Respect boundary signs, do not damage property and do not leave garbage.
- Park along roads or in designated parking areas. Do not block access to farm fields or pastures. Be aware that during the fall, farm machinery will also be using roads.
- Motorized vehicles are not allowed on private lands.
- No target practice, trapping, dog training, camping, horseback riding or fires are allowed by the public. The landowner retains the right to engage in, or give permission to engage in these, and other limited activities that do not impede public hunting.
All Walk-In Access sites are listed in the DNR Recreation Compass, while digital maps for individual sites, along with additional information on the program for hunters, are available on the DNR website.
The DNR says funding sources for the Walk-In-Access program include a grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a surcharge on nonresident hunting licenses, a one-time appropriation from the Minnesota Legislature in 2012 and donations from hunters.
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