DNR, land trusts plan to add 431 acres on Mantrap Lake to state wildlife management area

Annie Knight, executive director of Northern Waters Land Trust, told the Hubbard County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 11 that Northern Waters and Minnesota Land Trust will purchase roughly 431 acres and convey the parcels to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to become the Mantrap Wildlife Management Area.

The acquisition will be funded through Outdoor Heritage Fund grants and federal funding identified by the DNR; "We'll be acquiring the property in mid March," Knight said. The land trusts plan to buy the parcels from the current owner and transfer them to the state for management as a WMA.

The project matters to local governments because the parcels are currently on the county tax rolls, and commissioners asked how the loss of taxable property would affect local revenue. Eric Thorson, area wildlife supervisor with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources based in Park Rapids, said WMAs are managed for wildlife habitat and non-motorized recreation and described the parcel network's ecological values, including old-growth pine stands, large white pines, wetlands and shoreline habitat.

According to material presented to the board, the parcels total about 431 acres with about 5.5 miles of shoreline across four townships: Clay, Lake Emma, Mantrap and Thorpe. DNR staff said the property includes stands of red pine and large white pine, areas of natural regeneration, wild rice beds and fisheries habitat for species including muskie.

DNR staff estimated Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) at roughly three-quarters of 1% of appraised value; using 2024 county market estimates the presenter calculated an illustrative PILT payment in the range of $40,000 annually compared with about $25,400 in combined 2024 property taxes on the parcels. The DNR cautioned the board the appraisal and final PILT figures are not public until the appraisal and closing are complete.

Several commissioners and members of the board pressed for tradeoffs and asked whether particular shoreline parcels could be removed from the sale to preserve potential future tax capacity. Commissioners noted that some riparian lots could be developed for high-value homes and argued the county must balance conservation and tax base growth; other commissioners and township representatives expressed support for permanent protection to preserve shoreline and fish habitat. Multiple townships provided support letters for the acquisition, the presenters said.

Commissioners also discussed limits of county authority. DNR staff and land trust representatives told the board this is a private sale between the landowner and the trusts and does not require board approval; the county may comment but cannot block a private sale or a conveyance from a private landowner to a land trust. Board members said they will continue to weigh the county's "no net loss" stance on tax capacity against the conservation benefits the DNR and partners described.

The presenters said management of the new WMA will generally maintain the parcels in a natural state with limited infrastructure — parking, gates and maintained walking trails — and that public uses would include hunting, fishing, birding and hiking consistent with WMA rules. DNR staff described an access plan using existing trail networks and small, limited parking approaches in two units of the property.

Next steps: land trusts expect to close in mid-March; the appraisal and final sale price will be made public after closing. County commissioners asked staff to circulate the township support letters and the acquisition maps and to continue a dialog about whether any parcels could be excluded from the transfer.