Section 97A.095 Waterfowl Protected Areas - Minnesota Statutes

97A.095 WATERFOWL PROTECTED AREAS.

Subdivision 1.Migratory waterfowl sanctuary.

The commissioner may designate by rule any part of a state game refuge or any part of a public water that is designated for management purposes under section 97A.101, subdivision 2, as a migratory waterfowl sanctuary if there is presented to the commissioner a petition signed by ten resident licensed hunters describing an area that is primarily a migratory waterfowl refuge. The commissioner shall post the area as a migratory waterfowl sanctuary. A person may not enter a posted migratory waterfowl sanctuary during the open migratory waterfowl season unless accompanied by or under a permit issued by a conservation officer or wildlife manager. Upon a request from a private landowner within a migratory waterfowl sanctuary, an annual permit must be issued to provide access to the property during the waterfowl season. The permit shall include conditions that allow no activity which would disturb waterfowl using the refuge during the waterfowl season.

Subd. 2.Waterfowl feeding and resting areas.

The commissioner may, by rule, designate any part of a lake as a migratory feeding and resting area. Before designation, the commissioner must receive a petition signed by at least ten local resident licensed hunters describing the area of a lake that is a substantial feeding or resting area for migratory waterfowl, and find that the statements in the petition are correct, and that adequate, free public access to the lake exists near the designated area. The commissioner shall post the area as a migratory waterfowl feeding and resting area. Except as authorized in rules adopted by the commissioner, a person may not enter a posted migratory waterfowl feeding and resting area, during a period when hunting of migratory waterfowl is allowed, with watercraft or aircraft propelled by a motor, other than an electric motor with battery power of 12 volts or less. The commissioner may, by rule, further restrict the use of electric motors in migratory waterfowl feeding and resting areas.

Subd. 3.Hunting on Muskrat Lake.

The commissioner may prohibit migratory waterfowl hunting on Muskrat Lake in Beltrami County by posting accordingly.

Subd. 4.Swan Lake Migratory Waterfowl Sanctuary.

The land described in Laws 1999, chapter 81, section 2, is designated Swan Lake Migratory Waterfowl Sanctuary under subdivision 1.

History:

1986 c 386 art 1 s 18; 1987 c 119 s 1; 1991 c 259 s 23; 1993 c 231 s 11; 1999 c 81 s 1; 2000 c 495 s 30; 2004 c 215 s 5-7; 2009 c 176 art 2 s 14