Thanks to BK and IDO (and an understanding boss/PTO) I was able to attend the DNR Roundtable meeting last Thursday, June 9th, 2022 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Park. I will be posting 2 threads, this one on the factual info covered and structure of the meeting, and a second that is my commentary on the day.
The theme of the meeting was “Investing in the Future of Conservation”. It opened with a conversation between Governor Walz and Commissioner Strommen, on challenges and obstacles they see conservation facing in the coming years. Followed by the Keynote Speaker F.J. Fitzgerald, a Vietnam Vet, and author of “Combat to Conservation: A Marine’s Journey Through Darkness into Nature’s Light”. Following Fitz’s speech, Katie Smith the Ecological and Water Resources Division Director and Dave Olfelt the Fish and Wildlife Division Director each presented on a myriad of issues the DNR is taking on, and some of their big wins recently (spawning Sturgeon in the Red River Basin for the first time in over 100 years being a primary focus). Following that you had the option of attending one of 4 concurrent Question & Answer/Discussion periods. The topics were:
1. Fishing Regulations: Why and How we use regulations to manage fisheries with Head of Fisheries Brad Parsons. *This was the one I attended from this session.*
2. Conservation on the Ground: Spotlight on the roving Crews: led by Prairie Habitat Supervisor Greg Hoch from the DNR.
3. Minnesota Biological Survey: Where it’s been and where it’s headed: led by DNR Supervisor Bruce Carlson
4. Climate Change: What is DNR doing to adapt?: Led by Nicole Hansel-Welch Shallow Lakes Supervisor with the DNR
The next concurrent or breakout session was choosing one of these 4:
1. Hatcheries and Stocking: Supporting Minnesota’s Fishing Tradition: Led by Shannon Fisher the Fisheries Populations Monitoring and Regulations Manager
2. CWD: What’s New and Where are we headed?: Led by Kelly Straka the new Wildlife Section Manager. *This was the one I attended from this session.*
3. Groundwater: Sustaining a shared resource: Led by Pooja Kanwar Water Policy Consultant for the DNR
4. DNR Future Funding: Vision and options: led by Vanessa Perry Planning Director for the DNR
Then we had a good lunch, that allowed for a lot of networking and general discussion. I was able to chat with Brad Parsons for quite a while after lunch, and will go into that more in my other post, but safe to say he deserves a ton of respect and credit for how he handles a challenging job.
The afternoon sessions were led by non-DNR Roundtable attendees on a variety of topics, and was more open discussion between attendees and the panel for 45 minutes each. The general topics were:
1. Healthy Partnerships: Leveraging Everyone’s strengths to meet common conservation goals. Panel of Bob Karls, Northern Waters Land Trust, Todd Patzer Association of MN Counties and Kyle Rorah from Ducks Unlimited
2. Fulfilling the Promise: Building the foundation for MN’s Conservation and Outdoor Recreation future. Panel of Paul Austin Conservation MN and Joe Duggan a Conservation Consultant formerly of Pheasants Forever. Not in attendance but were listed as supposed to be on the panel, Lynnea Atlas-Ingebretson from Girl Scouts River Valleys and Rep. Leon Lillie MN House of Reps. I attended this for the second session and their absence was not explained, but may have been in the earlier session.
3. Spotlight on Lakes: Identifying Opportunities to protect and manage our 10,000 lakes for multiple purposes. Panel was Melissa Barrick from the Crow Wing County SWCD, Nate Blasing Brainerd Fishing Guide and Walleye Alliance Inc. Jeff Forester from MN Lakes and Rivers Advocates and Gabe Jabbour from Tonka Bay Marina. I attended this for the 1st session. (lots of things were covered, but most of the time was on the nearly unanimous consensus Wake Boats = Bad. The powersports industry had a rep there, but he didn’t say anything and I can’t say I blame him 
)
4. Spotlight on Conservation Lands: Finding New Opportunities to achieve multiple benefits. Panel of Sabin Adams from Pheasants Forever, Wendy Caldwell from Monarch Joint Venture and Michael Stansberry from the Chippewa National Forest.
The final roughly 2 hours was a presentation from Barb Naramore Deputy Commissioner, and more open discussion and Q&A between attendees and the DNR higher ups panel, including Commissioner Sarah Strommen, Shannon Lotthammer Assistant Commisioner, Bob Meier Assistant Commissioner and Jess Richards Assistant Commissioner. A huge array of issues were addressed quickly during this time from Mining to Wolves to Mille Lacs to Butterflies and a few things in between. Overall it was a very informative day, and I was thoroughly impressed by most of the in the field DNR employees. I would have liked to attend more of the sessions but alas can only be in one place at a time.
