REGIONAL— The Department of Natural Resources’ management of the state’s wildlife management areas has suffered from a lack of planning, poor documentation, unclear guidance, and conflicting goals. And that’s resulted in uncertainty over whether the state agency has met statutory and federal funding requirements to harvest timber in those areas primarily for the benefit of wildlife.
That’s among the many disturbing findings issued Tuesday as part of a special review of the DNR’s management of WMAs by Minnesota’s legislative auditor. The review came in response to widespread criticism of the DNR’s management of the 1.3 million acres of WMAs found across the state, most of it in north-central and northwestern Minnesota. Those criticisms, and federal documentation of many of the concerns, led to a multi-year suspension of a federal grant that helps states pay to improve wildlife habitat. As part of that, states are required to manage WMAs for the benefit of wildlife and any timber harvesting must be done primarily to improve wildlife habitat.
The state’s WMAs are widely used by hunters, anglers, and trappers as well as for wildlife viewing and outdoor recreation.
For several years, starting in 2020, federal Fish and Wildlife officials cited the DNR for failing to abide by federal guidelines. While DNR officials claimed the suspension of the grant funding was the result of misunderstanding, the legislative auditor found otherwise. “For several years, DNR did not take the steps necessary to comply with federal grant requirements— requirements that were repeatedly communicated to DNR.”
As a result of federal concerns, Fish and Wildlife officials, in July 2021, prohibited timber harvesting on WMA lands until the DNR agreed to meet their conditions. Federal officials told the legislative auditor that it was the first time that Fish and Wildlife’s Midwest office had ever prohibited a state from logging on WMAs. Despite the federal prohibition, the legislative auditor determined that the DNR continued to harvest timber in WMAs without meeting those conditions and subsequently claimed that it was addressing federal concerns without actually doing so.
While the DNR had agreed in 2021 to a revised grant agreement that placed 15 conditions on the agency’s timber harvesting on WMAs, a July 2023 federal compliance review found that the agency had failed to fulfill a single condition under the agreement and that the DNR was misusing its federal grant dollars to pay for timber harvesting on WMAs with no clear wildlife benefit. That report led to the temporary suspension of those federal grant dollars in August 2023. While those funds were eventually released, and additional grant dollars were approved in 2024 and 2025, the DNR’s actions continue to be closely scrutinized by federal wildlife officials.
According to the legislative auditor, the DNR has sharply reduced its timber harvesting on WMA acres since the 2023 reinstatement of federal funds, although it appears the agency is planning to ramp up those harvests again.
Higher harvests prompt dissatisfaction
At the root of the problem was the DNR’s 2018 decision to increase timber harvest on state lands, including on WMAs, to address demands from the state’s wood products industry. According to DNR wildlife staff interviewed by the legislative auditor, that decision increased the pressure on foresters to boost timber output. With WMAs accounting for nearly a quarter of the 5.6 million acres managed by the DNR statewide, many foresters targeted WMAs to meet their cordage goals, often over the objections of DNR wildlife staff who frequently argued that wildlife habitat was being diminished as a result.
The legislative auditor surveyed DNR staff, including foresters and wildlife officials, and found widespread dissatisfaction among wildlife staff, less so among foresters.
A total of 71 percent of DNR wildlife staff surveyed said they were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their agency’s forest habitat management on WMAs, while only seven percent said they were satisfied.
One DNR wildlife official stated: “Wildlife values are not the primary reason for our management. Economics of the logging industry are driving the rotation ages and management on WMAs.”
Among foresters, 40 percent indicated dissatisfaction, with another 30 percent expressing a neutral position. Only 27 percent indicated they were satisfied, although some of that dissatisfaction comes from efforts to address wildlife concerns over other values.
DNR staff also frequently complained about inconsistent and unclear directives from senior agency officials. Majorities of both foresters and wildlife officials, including 75 percent of wildlife staff, agreed that lines of authority in their divisions were unclear. Seventy-six percent of wildlife officials said DNR higher-ups had failed to provide them with sufficient training and guidance regarding timber harvesting in WMAs.
Lack of planning a concern
The legislative auditor has noted the DNR’s longstanding failure to develop and update management plans for its WMAs, including in a 2010 evaluation report. Little appears to have changed since. “As of August 2025, DNR had master plans for only seven of Minnesota’s over 1,500 WMAs,” reads the auditor’s report issued this week. “These master plans specify the wildlife habitats the WMAs are intended to protect, the goals and objectives of DNR’s wildlife management in the WMAs, the activities DNR will undertake to achieve its goals, and the metrics DNR will use to measure its progress toward meeting its goals.”
Because of the lack of clear planning, the legislative auditor determined it was not possible to document whether DNR management of WMAs was meeting state law or legislative directives. It offered recommendations that the Legislature provide greater direction on which WMAs should have master plans and what those plans should include and how frequently they should be updated.
The auditor called for the DNR to update its existing plans as needed and work with the Legislature to determine the scale, scope, and frequency of plans for all other WMAs.
Other recommendations
The legislative auditor offered numerous recommendations to the DNR, including the following:
• Working to ensure compliance with federal grant requirements for work on WMAs.
• Working to ensure that wildlife habitat improvement remains the primary objective of timber management on WMAs.
• Specifying how the agency will document each proposed WMA timber harvest is consistent with statutory requirement and documented habitat goals.
• Ensuring that agency staff are familiar with WMA forest management policies and procedures and that they are readily available to staff and are the subject of ongoing leadership attention and training.