HF 632

1st Engrossment - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to natural resources; designating a state wildlife management area;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 97A.133, by adding a subdivision.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 97A.133, is amended by adding a
subdivision to read:

new text begin Subd. 66. Vermillion Highlands Wildlife Management Area, Dakota County.
new text end

Sec. 2. new text begin VERMILLION HIGHLANDS WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA.
new text end

new text begin (a) The following area is established and designated as the Vermillion Highlands
Wildlife Management Area, subject to the special permitted uses authorized in this section:
new text end

new text begin The approximately 2,840 acres owned by the University of Minnesota lying within
the area legally described as approximately the southerly 3/4 of the Southwest 1/4 of
Section 1, the Southeast 1/4 of Section 2, the East 1/2 of Section 10, Section 11, the
West 1/2 of Section 12, Section 13, and Section 14, all in Township 114 North, Range
19 West, Dakota County.
new text end

new text begin (b) Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, section 86A.05, subdivision 8, paragraph
(c), permitted uses in the Vermillion Highlands Wildlife Management Area include:
new text end

new text begin (1) education, outreach, and agriculture with the intent to eventually phase out
agriculture leases and plant and restore native prairie;
new text end

new text begin (2) research by the University of Minnesota or other permitted researchers;
new text end

new text begin (3) hiking, hunting, fishing, trapping, and other compatible wildlife-related
recreation of a natural outdoors experience, without constructing new hard surface trails
or roads, and supporting management and improvements;
new text end

new text begin (4) designated trails for hiking, horseback riding, biking, and cross-country skiing
and necessary trailhead support with minimal impact on the permitted uses in clause (3);
new text end

new text begin (5) shooting sports facilities for sporting clays, skeet, trapshooting, and rifle and
pistol shooting, including sanctioned events and training for responsible handling and
use of firearms;
new text end

new text begin (6) grant-in-aid snowmobile trails; and
new text end

new text begin (7) leases for small-scale farms to market vegetable farming.
new text end

new text begin (c) With the concurrence of representatives of the University of Minnesota and
Dakota County, the commissioner of natural resources may, by posting or rule, restrict the
permitted uses as follows:
new text end

new text begin (1) temporarily close areas or trails, by posting at the access points, to facilitate
hunting. When temporarily closing trails under this clause, the commissioner shall avoid
closing all trail loops simultaneously whenever practical; or
new text end

new text begin (2) limit other permitted uses to accommodate hunting and trapping after providing
advance public notice. Research conducted by the university may not be limited unless
mutually agreed by the commissioner and the University of Minnesota.
new text end

new text begin (d) Road maintenance within the wildlife management area shall be minimized, with
the intent to abandon interior roads when no longer needed for traditional agriculture
purposes.
new text end

new text begin (e) Money collected on leases from lands within the wildlife management area
must be kept in a separate account and spent within the wildlife management area under
direction of the representatives listed in paragraph (c).
new text end

new text begin (f) Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, sections 97A.061 and 477A.11, the state
of Minnesota shall not provide payments in lieu of taxes for the lands described in
paragraph (a).
new text end