Walz signs bill to return 3,400 acres to Fond du Lac Band

Gov. Tim Walz signed legislation on Wednesday that clears the way for the return of about 3,400 acres at the Cloquet Forestry Center to the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, a major land shift in northeastern Minnesota that affects a parcel sitting entirely within the Fond du Lac Reservation.

The new law does more than signal support. It directs the commissioner of administration to convey, for no consideration, all state-owned land within the Cloquet Forestry Center to the University of Minnesota so the university can complete the return to the Band. It also sets aside $1.3 million in fiscal year 2026 to prepay and defease outstanding state general obligation bonds tied to improvements and betterments at the center, removing a financial obstacle that had to be addressed before the transfer could proceed cleanly.

Even with the bill signed, the handoff is not finished. The University of Minnesota said it still has to finalize agreements with the Fond du Lac Band on how the land will be managed and how the site will continue to support forestry and natural resources education. Those agreements will determine how the university’s research, teaching and outreach mission continues on land the university has held for more than a century.

University President Rebecca Cunningham and Fond du Lac Tribal Chairman Bruce M. Savage joined Walz for the signing, underscoring the significance of a deal rooted in both state policy and tribal sovereignty. The university has said the land is tied to the 1854 treaty with the Fond du Lac Band and to the broader history of reservation allotment and land loss that stripped Native communities of territory in the late 19th century.

The center itself has deep institutional history. Established in 1909, it has been known at different times as Cloquet Forest, Cloquet Forest Experiment Station, Cloquet Experimental Forest and Cloquet Forest Research Center before receiving its current name in 1972. The university said the return fits its policies and its Truth Project recommendations on recognition and university-Tribal healing.

The legislation advanced after a 2024 effort, HF 4193 and SF 3986, failed when the legislature did not pass a capital investment omnibus bill. This time, the path was opened through HF 1389 and companion SF 1754.

For Cloquet and the surrounding area, the transfer reaches beyond a property line. It reshapes who controls a prominent stretch of land in the Lake Superior watershed, could affect public access and forestry use, and may alter how the Cloquet-area economy benefits from research, education and stewardship tied to the site.