Purpose

This bill changes reporting and information duties for the Department of Natural Resources to improve efficiency. It adds new duties around collecting data, advertising land sales, managing land use, and requiring public reports and plans. It also updates how the department reports on state nursery planting stock.

Main provisions

• Section 1 — Minnesota Statutes 84.03 (Additional Duties and Powers)

  • The commissioner’s responsibilities expand to:
  • Collect and organize statistics and information about the state’s lands and natural resources.
  • Take measures to advertise state land sales and to compile and issue valuable statistics about the state’s resources.
  • Adopt and enforce reasonable rules governing the use and enjoyment of state land and related areas (state lands reserved from sale; parks; water-access sites; trails; monuments; scientific and natural areas; wilderness areas; and recreational areas managed by other agencies).
  • Impose a reasonable fee for the privilege of using these lands and facilities.
  • The commissioner must maintain a publicly available inventory of department-administered lands. This inventory must be updated by a specified date in even-numbered years (and reported to the legislature on acts and actions with recommendations for improvement or conservation of various state lands and recreational areas, including state parks, water-access sites, trails, monuments, scientific and natural areas, forests, wildlife areas, hunting grounds, and related lands).
  • The inventory must include:
  • An inventory of land tracts and parcels, rights and easements held by the state, and their value.
  • A list describing each state trail, state park, state recreation area, state forest, state scientific and natural area, state wildlife management area, state aquatic management area, state water-access site, and designated rivers or other recreation lands, plus names and descriptions of recently acquired lands.
  • The commissioner must maintain a long-range plan governing the use of the public domain under the commissioner's jurisdiction for lands acquired or conveyed out of department ownership during the previous biennium.

• Section 2 — Minnesota Statutes 89.36, subdivision 4 (Annual/Biennial Reporting)

  • The commissioner must submit an annual or biennial report to the legislature about the production of planting stock at state nurseries. The report must include:
  • Sales figures.
  • Income figures.
  • Expenses for operations and administration.
  • Copies of the report must be filed with the Legislative Reference Library and made available to the public.
  • The commissioner must provide any additional information requested by the legislature related to nursery planting stock production.

Significant changes to existing law

• Expanded duties for data collection, reporting, and public access related to state lands and resources.
• Authorization to advertise state land sales and set reasonable fees for the use of lands and facilities.
• Requirement to maintain a detailed, publicly accessible land inventory with value and ownership details, updated every even-numbered year by a set deadline.
• Obligation to report comprehensively on land use and conservation priorities to the legislature, including a long-range planning component for lands managed by the department.
• Updated and clarified reporting for state nursery planting stock, including a stronger emphasis on the public availability of nursery financial data (sales, income, expenses) and the ability for the legislature to request additional information.

Relevant implications: - Increased transparency and public data about state lands, resources, and land-related revenues. - More formalized planning and accountability around land use and conservation. - Expanded reporting requirements for state-run nurseries.

Relevant Terms - additional duties and powers - statistics and information - state lands and resources - advertise sales of state lands - rules governing use and enjoyment - reasonable fees - inventory of department-administered lands - publicly available inventory - even-numbered years / January dates (update deadline) - tracts, parcels, rights, easements - value of land and rights - state trails, state parks, state recreation areas - state forests, scientific and natural areas - wildlife management areas, public hunting grounds - land acquisitions since last report - long-range plan for public domain - planting stock - state nurseries - sales figures, income figures, expenses - Legislative Reference Library - public access to reports