OutdoorMN News - DNR seeks comments on Grand Marais area lake and stream management plans

[Rick]

If you’re interested in lake and stream management in the Grand Marais area, including parts of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), the Department of Natural Resources encourages you to read the current plans up for review this winter, attend an open house, and submit comments and suggestions.

An open house will be held on Saturday, Nov. 2, from 6-8 p.m. at the Grand Marais area fisheries office at 1356 E. Highway 61, Grand Marais to share current plans for several area lakes and streams and take comments and suggestions on potential revisions. Comments will be accepted through Dec. 20.

A management plan identifies specific management activities planned for a lake or stream over the next five to 20 years, including any proposed stocking or special regulations.

“Management plans are great resources for anglers and anybody else interested in our lakes and streams,” said Steve Persons, DNR Grand Marais area fisheries supervisor. “They document where we’ve been, where we’d like to go, and how we hope to get there. Comments and suggestions from people who care about and are familiar with waters in this area are crucial when it comes to determining how those public waters should be managed.”

In the Grand Marais area, plans for the following lakes and streams will reviewed this winter:

Lakes

The status and preservation of lake trout populations and fisheries is the primary concern in plans being reviewed for West Bearskin, Kemo, and Rose lakes. Rose Lake is inside the BWCAW.

Stream trout stocking and management strategies will be reviewed for Carrot and Chester lakes. Trout stocking will continue in both lakes, but species, sizes, and numbers stocked will be reviewed.

Plans for Agnes, Deer Yard, Holly, Pit, Quiver, Rog, Shoko, Swamper, and Tait lakes will be reviewed. For most of those lakes the status and habitat needs of walleye, northern pike, panfish, or smallmouth bass fisheries will be of most concern.

Plans for several lightly-used BWCAW lakes in the area, including Elm, Lux, Ray, and Zephyr lakes will be reviewed. Those plans will be revised primarily to incorporate any new survey data and to establish survey schedules for the next few years.

Streams

Plans for the Devil Track River, the Little Devil Track River, Junco Creek, Kimball Creek, and the Temperance River will be reviewed. All are important brook trout streams, with the Devil Track River and Kimball Creek among the best streams for steelhead. Plans will address habitat needs and means of improving the resilience of streams and their watersheds in the face of climate change.

A new management plan will be created for the North Brule River using data on that stream recently collected by DNR fisheries and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Portions of the North Brule River may be considered for trout stream designation.

Plans for lakes and streams in the area as well as recent fish population assessment information are available for review at the DNR’s Grand Marais area fisheries office at 1356 E. Highway 61, Grand Marais, Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. For more information or to request copies of current plans, call or email Steve Persons at 218-387-6022 or [email protected]. Written comments can be submitted at the public meeting or sent by mail or email.

This public comment period will extend through Dec. 20. Comments, suggestions and other feedback on managing these and all other streams and lakes in the area are welcomed at any time, and will be considered when those plans are next due for review.

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