1997 Minnesota Statutes

     84.027 Powers and duties. 

    Subdivision 1.    Powers.  The commissioner of natural 
 resources shall be the administrative and executive head of the 
 department.  Subject to the provisions hereof and other 
 applicable laws, the commissioner shall have the powers and 
 duties herein prescribed.  The enumeration of specific powers 
 and duties herein shall not limit or exclude other powers or 
 duties.  

    Subd. 2.    Duties.  The commissioner shall have charge 
 and control of all the public lands, parks, timber, waters, 
 minerals, and wild animals of the state and of the use, sale, 
 leasing, or other disposition thereof, and of all records 
 pertaining to the performance of the commissioner's functions 
 relating thereto. 

    Subd. 3.    Powers.  The commissioner shall have all 
 the powers and duties prescribed for the commissioner of 
 conservation by Laws 1931, chapter 186, all the powers and 
 duties therein prescribed for the conservation commission except 
 the power to appoint a commissioner, and all other powers and 
 duties now prescribed by law for the commissioner of 
 conservation, the conservation commission, the department of 
 conservation, its divisions, or the director of any division.  

    Subd. 4.    Powers.  The commissioner shall have all 
 existing powers and duties now or heretofore vested in or 
 imposed upon the state auditor in any capacity and not 
 heretofore transferred to any other officer or agency with 
 respect to the public lands, parks, timber, waters, and minerals 
 of the state, and the records thereof; provided, that nothing 
 herein shall divest the state auditor of any power or duty 
 otherwise prescribed by law with respect to auditing, 
 accounting, disbursement, or other disposition of funds 
 pertaining to the matters herein specified, nor of any power or 
 duty expressly vested in or imposed upon the state auditor by 
 the following provisions of law: 

    (1) The provisions of Mason's Minnesota Statutes 1927, 
 section 76, so far as the same pertain to the crediting of 
 payments on account of state lands, timber, or other products to 
 the proper funds, or to the depositing and keeping of 
 conveyances and abstracts of title; also all other provisions 
 pertaining to the filing or keeping of deeds, grants, or 
 conveyances to the state or abstracts or other evidence of title 
 to state property; 

    (2) All provisions pertaining to escheated property; 

    (3) Mason's Minnesota Statutes 1927, sections 2220, 6442 to 
 6449, 6646, 6660, and 8223.  

    Subd. 5.    Powers.  The commissioner shall have all 
 the powers and duties prescribed for the state auditor by 
 Mason's Supplement 1940, sections 5620-1 to 5620-13, 6452-1 to 
 6452-13, and 4031-75 to 4031-88, with respect to the receipt, 
 filing, keeping, and certification of reports, lists, and 
 records of descriptions of lands, reserving to the state auditor 
 all other powers and duties therein prescribed for the state 
 auditor.  The county auditor shall make and transmit to the 
 state auditor all the certificates and reports therein required 
 except certificates and reports of land descriptions, which 
 shall be made and transmitted to the commissioner.  

    Subd. 6.    Powers.  The commissioner shall have all 
 the powers and duties prescribed for the state auditor by 
 Mason's Supplement 1940, sections 5620-13 1/2 to 5620-13 1/2j, 
 as amended, and 2139-27b to 2139-27k, as amended, with respect 
 to the receipt, filing, and keeping of reports of sales of land 
 and the execution of conveyances, reserving to the state auditor 
 all other powers and duties therein prescribed for the state 
 auditor.  The county auditors shall make and transmit to the 
 commissioner all the certificates and reports therein required 
 to be made to the state auditor with respect to such sales and 
 conveyances.  The county treasurers shall make all reports of 
 collections thereunder in duplicate and shall transmit a copy of 
 each report to the commissioner of finance and the commissioner. 

    Subd. 7.    Limitation of powers.  Except as otherwise 
 expressly provided, nothing herein shall confer on the 
 commissioner any authority over any property of the state 
 devoted pursuant to law to any specific purpose under any 
 officer or agency of the state other than the commissioner or 
 the department of natural resources or its divisions.  

    Subd. 8.    Selection of lands for certain purposes.  
 The commissioner of natural resources may select from any 
 available lands owned by the United States in this state such 
 lands as the commissioner deems suitable in lieu of any 
 deficiencies which may have occurred in grants of school lands 
 or other lands heretofore made to the state under any act of 
 Congress, and may, with the approval of the executive council, 
 accept on behalf of the state any grants or patents of lands so 
 selected issued by the United States to the state. 

    This subdivision shall not be deemed to amend, supersede, 
 or repeal any existing law, but shall be supplementary thereto. 

    Subd. 9.    Condemnation with landowner's consent.  If 
 authorized by law to acquire any interest in real estate, the 
 commissioner of natural resources may acquire by condemnation 
 with the written consent of the landowner, that real estate 
 which the commissioner deems to be in the best interests of the 
 state.  This subdivision shall apply only in those situations 
 where condemnation is not otherwise authorized for the 
 acquisition. 

    Subd. 10.    Sale of surplus lands to local governments 
 for recreational or natural resources purposes.  (a) The 
 commissioner, with the approval of the state executive council, 
 may sell the class of land or interest in land under paragraph 
 (b) to a county, home rule charter or statutory city, town, or 
 other governmental subdivision of the state for public use, 
 including recreational or natural resource purposes.  

    (b) The commissioner may sell the class of land or interest 
 in land that has been acquired by gift, purchase, or eminent 
 domain and the commissioner has declared surplus.  The 
 commissioner shall declare land surplus in writing and state the 
 reasons why the land or interest in land is no longer needed.  

    (c) The commissioner shall appraise the land or interest in 
 land before the land or interest in land is sold, and may sell 
 the land or interest in land for less than the appraised value 
 if the commissioner determines, in writing, that it is in the 
 public interest.  

    (d) The commissioner shall convey the state's interest in 
 the name of the state by quitclaim deed in a form approved by 
 the attorney general.  The deed must reserve to the state 
 minerals and mineral rights in the manner provided in sections 
 93.01 and 93.02, and provide that the land or interest in land 
 reverts to the state if the governmental subdivision acquiring 
 the land or interest in land: 

    (1) fails to provide the public use intended on the 
 property; 

    (2) allows a public use other than the public use agreed to 
 by the commissioner at the time of conveyance without the 
 written approval of the commissioner; or 

    (3) abandons the public use of the property.  

    Subd. 11.    Federal conservation grants.  The 
 commissioner of natural resources shall receive and administer 
 grants under the land and water conservation grant program 
 authorized by Congress in the Land and Water Conservation Fund 
 Act of 1965, as amended. 

    Subd. 12.    Property disposal; gift acknowledgment; 
 advertising sales.  (a) The commissioner may give away to 
 members of the public items with a value of less than $10 that 
 are intended to promote conservation of natural resources or 
 create awareness of the state and its resources or natural 
 resource management programs.  The total value of items given to 
 the public under this paragraph may not exceed $25,000 per year. 

    (b) The commissioner may recognize the contribution of 
 money or in-kind services on plaques, signs, publications, 
 audio-visual materials, and media advertisements by allowing the 
 organization's contribution to be acknowledged in print of 
 readable size. 

    (c) The commissioner may accept paid advertising for 
 departmental publications.  Advertising revenues received are 
 appropriated to the commissioner to be used to defray costs of 
 publications, media productions, or other informational 
 materials.  The commissioner may not accept paid advertising 
 from any elected official or candidate for elective office. 

    Subd. 13.    Game and fish rules.  (a) The commissioner 
 of natural resources may adopt rules under sections 97A.0451 to 
 97A.0459 and this subdivision that are authorized under: 

    (1) chapters 97A, 97B, and 97C to set open seasons and 
 areas, to close seasons and areas, to select hunters for areas, 
 to provide for tagging and registration of game, to prohibit or 
 allow taking of wild animals to protect a species, and to 
 prohibit or allow importation, transportation, or possession of 
 a wild animal; 

    (2) sections 84.093, 84.15, and 84.152 to set seasons for 
 harvesting wild ginseng roots and wild rice and to restrict or 
 prohibit harvesting in designated areas; and 

    (3) section 84D.12 to designate prohibited exotic species, 
 regulated exotic species, unregulated exotic species, limited 
 infestations of Eurasian water milfoil, and infested waters. 

    (b) If conditions exist that do not allow the commissioner 
 to comply with sections 97A.0451 to 97A.0459, the commissioner 
 may adopt a rule under this subdivision by submitting the rule 
 to the attorney general for review under section 97A.0455, 
 publishing a notice in the State Register and filing the rule 
 with the secretary of state and the legislative coordinating 
 commission, and complying with section 97A.0459, and including a 
 statement of the emergency conditions and a copy of the rule in 
 the notice.  The notice may be published after it is received 
 from the attorney general or five business days after it is 
 submitted to the attorney general, whichever is earlier. 

    (c) Rules adopted under paragraph (b) are effective upon 
 publishing in the State Register and may be effective up to 
 seven days before publishing and filing under paragraph (b), if: 

    (1) the commissioner of natural resources determines that 
 an emergency exists; 

    (2) the attorney general approves the rule; and 

    (3) for a rule that affects more than three counties the 
 commissioner publishes the rule once in a legal newspaper 
 published in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth, or for a rule 
 that affects three or fewer counties the commissioner publishes 
 the rule once in a legal newspaper in each of the affected 
 counties. 

    (d) Except as provided in paragraph (e), a rule published 
 under paragraph (c), clause (3), may not be effective earlier 
 than seven days after publication. 

    (e) A rule published under paragraph (c), clause (3), may 
 be effective the day the rule is published if the commissioner 
 gives notice and holds a public hearing on the rule within 15 
 days before publication. 

    (f) The commissioner shall attempt to notify persons or 
 groups of persons affected by rules adopted under paragraphs (b) 
 and (c) by public announcements, posting, and other appropriate 
 means as determined by the commissioner. 

    (g) Notwithstanding section 97A.0458, a rule adopted under 
 this subdivision is effective for the period stated in the 
 notice but not longer than 18 months after the rule is adopted. 

    Subd. 14.    Mission; efficiency.  It is part of the 
 department's mission that within the department's resources the 
 commissioner shall endeavor to: 

    (1) prevent the waste or unnecessary spending of public 
 money; 

    (2) use innovative fiscal and human resource practices to 
 manage the state's resources and operate the department as 
 efficiently as possible; 

    (3) coordinate the department's activities wherever 
 appropriate with the activities of other governmental agencies; 

    (4) use technology where appropriate to increase agency 
 productivity, improve customer service, increase public access 
 to information about government, and increase public 
 participation in the business of government; 

    (5) utilize constructive and cooperative labor-management 
 practices to the extent otherwise required by chapters 43A and 
 179A; 

    (6) include specific objectives in the performance report 
 required under section 15.91 to increase the efficiency of 
 agency operations when appropriate; and 

    (7) recommend to the legislature, in the performance report 
 of the department required under section 15.91, appropriate 
 changes in law necessary to carry out the mission of the 
 department. 

    Subd. 15.    Electronic transactions.  (a) The 
 commissioner may receive an application for, sell, and issue any 
 license, stamp, permit, registration, or transfer under the 
 jurisdiction of the commissioner by electronic means, including 
 by telephone.  The commissioner may: 

    (1) provide for the electronic transfer of funds generated 
 by electronic transactions, including by telephone; 

    (2) assign a license identification number to an applicant 
 who purchases a hunting or fishing license by electronic means, 
 to serve as temporary authorization to engage in the licensed 
 activity until the license is received or expires; 

    (3) charge and permit agents to charge a fee of individuals 
 who make electronic transactions, and transactions by telephone, 
 including a transaction fee under section 97A.485, subdivision 
 6, and a credit card fee not to exceed $3.50 for electronic 
 transactions; 

    (4) select up to four volunteer counties, not more than two 
 in the metropolitan area, to participate in this pilot project 
 and the counties shall select the participating agents; and 

    (5) adopt rules to administer the provisions of this 
 subdivision. 

    (b) A county shall not collect a commission for the sale of 
 licenses or permits made by agents selected by the participating 
 counties under this subdivision. 

    HIST: 1943 c 60 s 2; 1953 c 382 s 1; 1969 c 1129 art 10 s 2; 
 1976 c 96 s 1; 1986 c 444; 1988 c 628 s 1; 1993 c 172 s 32; 1994 
 c 509 s 1; 1995 c 233 art 2 s 39; 1995 c 248 art 11 s 6; 1996 c 
 385 art 2 s 1; 1997 c 7 art 1 s 20; 1997 c 216 s 58