House passes DNR bills on licensing, firefighting, gizzard shad

A number of policy provisions recommended by the Department of Natural Resources received strong responses from the House.

All sponsored by Rep. Dan Fabian (R-Roseau), the House passed HF3421, HF3422 and HF3423 Monday. Each goes to the Senate, where they are sponsored by Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen (R-Alexandria).

Passed 126-0, HF3421, as amended, would remove a requirement for the DNR to supply hunters, fishers or trappers with a regulations booklet when purchasing a license.

Rep. Dan Fabian

“The DNR prints far too many of those, a lot of them end up getting thrown into the garbage,” Fabian said. “What they want to do is simply print fewer of those.”

The bill would also allow individuals who have unsuccessfully applied for elk hunting licenses 10 times to be placed in a lottery for the remaining 20 percent of licenses.

Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul) successfully offered an amendment to notify the public that grants are available through a conservation grant legacy program.

Rep. Steve Green (R-Fosston) amended the Hansen amendment to insert the language of the omnibus legacy finance bill into HF3421, and Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn (DFL-Roseville) successfully offered an amendment to prohibit lead ammunition from being used in a wildlife management area.

The other two bills were each passed 124-0.

HF3422 would expand the areas in which fisherman can catch gizzard shad — a small fish commonly used as bait.

Under current law, gizzard shad may only be harvested in certain areas of the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers. The bill would allow cast netting of the fish in the Minnesota River downstream of Granite Falls. It would also increase the size of the nets allowed.

HF3423 would exempt forest officers and wildland firefighters from general firefighter training, education and certification requirements.