Minnesota DNR Makes Largest Land Acquisition In Years In Northern Minnesota

The Minnesota DNR just announced it acquired thousands of acres in what it calls one of the largest land acquisitions in recent years.

The multi-part acquisition was just finalized, marking nearly 16,000 acres across 10 counties in Northern Minnesota now falling under the protection of the Minnesota DNR.

The first of a handful of efforts to acquire this land came through working with The Conservation Fund (TCF), which purchased land from PotlatchDeltic Corporation between 2018 and 2022. The DNR then worked with counties to identify acquisition priorities among the land options and secure funding for land acquisitions.

One of the transactions to acquire this new land came through a Minnesota DNR collaboration with the Northern Waters Land Trust (NWLT) and some funding from the Minnesota Legacy Outdoor Heritage Fund to purchase 10,675 "strategically selected" acres across Aitkin, Becker, Carlton, Cass, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Itasca, Koochiching, and Wadena counties.

READ MORE: Preliminary 2025 Minnesota Deer Hunting Statistics 

Another transaction came through the DNR using Reinvest in Minnesota dollars to purchase 5,120 acres of land in St. Louis County.

In total, just shy of 16,000 acres of land across 10 counties across much of Northern Minnesota are now under Minnesota DNR control.

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The DNR highlights in a press release that "The newly acquired state public land belongs to all Minnesotans." Allowable activities at each part of the newly acquired land will vary from location to location, however.

Some areas will be designated for wildlife management, which will allow for hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing. Others will be designated as scientific and natural areas, designed to preserve rare habitats that will be open for other activities that won't disturb the natural conditions.

Other portions will be designated as state forest, which offers other recreation and natural resource uses and purposes.

You can learn about all of Minnesota's DNR-managed lands, where they are, and how each type of land can be used on the Minnesota DNR Recreation Compass map.