DNR Invites Public Comment on Fisheries Plans for Eight Otter Tail Lakes

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is asking anglers, lake associations and shoreline residents to contact area fisheries offices by March 31 as it updates fisheries management plans for 197 lakes in 52 counties, the agency announced March 2. The DNR’s news release directs people who have thoughts on the future management of a lake with a scheduled plan update to call or email the area fisheries office for that water body before March 31.

Fisheries management consultant Ryan Maki urged broad participation, saying, “We’re inviting anyone interested in the health and quality of Minnesota’s fisheries to contact us during this critical part of the DNR’s fisheries lake management planning process. These plans establish fisheries management goals and objectives for each lake and define the work fisheries biologists do each year. Observations and input from a lake’s stakeholders are essential to the planning effort.”

The DNR says fisheries management plans guide work across roughly 4,500 actively managed lakes in Minnesota and that the agency will consider observations and comments from the public as area fisheries teams develop updates. The release notes that the state’s 10 largest lakes follow a similar but separate update process and that area fisheries managers, based on initial comments and other considerations, might request additional public feedback later in summer or fall; the DNR will publicize additional engagement regionally and post details on its lake-management webpage.

The excerpts of the DNR’s county-by-county list included in the release that our office reviewed show entries under Aitkin (Big Sandy, Hanson, Hill), Anoka (Peltier), Becker (Big Cormorant, Elbow, Melissa, Sallie), Beltrami (Sandy, South Twin), Blue Earth (Ballantyne, Crystal, Duck, Loon, Madison), Carlton (Little Hanging Horn) and Carver (Parley). The DNR’s full 197-lake list, published on the agency’s lake-management page, is the authoritative source for which Otter Tail County waters, if any, are scheduled for 2026 review; local stakeholders should confirm the county-by-county entries and the correct area fisheries-office contact for any specific lake.

Separately, the DNR’s Public Waters Inventory update remains an ongoing, eight-year project launched in 2024 to align the inventory with Minnesota’s statutory definition of public waters; that effort runs through 2032. The agency recently extended comment periods by 15 days for the first four counties in the PWI update project, and the new comment deadline for Aitkin County is March 14 at 4:30 p.m. Do not conflate that PWI timeline or its March 14 Aitkin deadline with the March 31 fisheries-plan comment window.

Area fisheries offices will review all submitted observations and comments and may schedule further public outreach for particular lake plans later this year. Residents seeking to weigh in should contact the appropriate area fisheries office for their water body before March 31 so their observations can be considered in the 2026 plan updates.