Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Natural Resources And Parks topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DNR presents $98 million 2025 bonding package to address deferred maintenance, betterments and land programs
Summary
Department of Natural Resources officials told the Senate Capital Investment Committee the agency's 2025 bonding request totals $98 million, focused on asset preservation (NRAP), betterment of buildings, land acquisition/reforestation and other community investments including dam safety and flood mitigation grants.
Bob Meyer, assistant commissioner at the Department of Natural Resources, and Samantha Minkler, capital asset program manager, presented the DNR's 2025 capital priorities to the committee and said the governor's bonding proposal totals $98 million.
Meyer and Minkler described a multi-pronged request designed to address a growing deferred-maintenance backlog across parks, trails, state forests, hatcheries, roads, buildings and access sites on state-managed lands. The DNR said rates of deferred maintenance have increased and that nearly one in four DNR buildings are in "unacceptable or poor" condition; only about one in four meet modern design and accessibility standards. The DNR reported a current replacement value for its built assets of roughly $3.5 billion and stated that stewardship requires continuing repair, renovation and replacement.
The agency broke the request into three primary categories: $61 million for Natural Resources Asset Preservation (NRAP) to repair and replace degrading infrastructure; $11.1 million for building betterments (with the top priority being storage and examination capacity at the Drill Core Library); and $6.5 million for acquisition and betterment of public lands aimed at reforestation, land improvements and strategic inholdings. Meyer and Minkler also highlighted dam safety and flood hazard mitigation grant requests that would expand local cost-share grants for rapid riverbank stabilization, dam removal and flood-risk projects.
Minkler said the NRAP program prioritizes safety, water/wastewater systems, roads, trails, public water access, campsites and fish hatcheries, with a focus on accessibility, energy efficiency and climate resilience. The DNR noted the 2023 appropriation for the Waterville fish hatchery (about $20 million) is in predesign and moving to design.
Senators asked for more detail on specific acquisitions and whether the DNR intends to add new state parks. Minkler said the current acquisition requests focus on inholdings and opportunities inside existing park boundaries rather than establishing new state parks. Meyer said the DNR would provide a breakdown of the roughly 5.6 million acres the agency manages (including school trust lands and wildlife management areas) to committee members.
Meyer and Minkler emphasized the need to balance system-wide preservation with targeted community investments, and they said consistent capital funding is essential to address the deferred maintenance backlog. They also asked for continued support for accessibility upgrades, which the agency said would connect more Minnesotans to outdoor recreation and improve equity of access.
The committee did not take formal action at the hearing; staff said more detailed project lists and costs would be provided in follow-up materials.
