(Editor’s Note: The following article was submitted by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.)

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is developing several Section Forest Resource management plans (SFRMPs), including the SFRMP for the Minnesota & Northeast Iowa Morainal (MIM) Ecological Section, which contains the Sand Dunes State Forest.

The Minnesota & Northeast Iowa Morainal SFRMP, along with four other plans, is available for input through Oct. 23, 2023, and the DNR invites feedback.

SFRMPs

The DNR is committed to the long-term strategic and sustainable management of our forest lands, and the MIM SFRMP contributes towards achieving these objectives through guiding vegetation management on state-administered forest lands across the MIM ecological Section, including within the Sand Dunes State Forest.

Section Forest Resource Management Plans are part of the DNR’s Forest Resource Management Plan System, which also includes the DNR’s 10-year stand exam list. They guide DNR managers on what to consider when making management decisions for forest stands within each ecological section.

The SFRMPs are not prescriptive and do not indicate how, when, or where any specific management action will occur. Rather, they provide broad general direction and strategies for advancing landscape-scale goals through stand-level management. Natural boundaries for the coverage area of each plan are based on the Ecological Classification System (ECS), which classifies Minnesota’s landscape into geographic units based on local geology and ecology.

How to Get Involved

The draft MIM SFRMP, along with the other four SFRMPS, is available for comment through Oct. 23, 2023. You can view or download a copy of the draft on the Minnesota & Northeast Iowa Morainal Forest Resource Management Plan (MIM SFRMP) web page.

Submit comments or questions to FOR.Planners.DNRSstate.MN.us.