Minnesota’s walk-in access program granted $2.1M from feds

St. Paul — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program recently awarded $2.1 million dollars to the Minnesota DNR’s Walk-In Access Program to increase public access to private lands for wildlife-based recreation.

The USDA is investing $52 million in 19 projects across the United States to help encourage landowners to allow public access to their land for hunting, fishing and other wildlife-dependent recreation.

“This partnership has been the driving force behind Minnesota’s Walk-In Access Program since its inception in 2010,” said Jason Moeckel, DNR Fish and Wildlife Division director. “This award will help us to maintain this very popular program for the next three years.”

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The Walk-In Access Program pays landowners to allow public access to their property without additional landowner contact. In 2026, there are around 22,000 acres of private land enrolled across more than 220 Walk-In Access sites in west, central and southern Minnesota.

“We’d like to thank the USDA-NRCS for the opportunity to participate in this grant program again. We are hopeful with this grant that we can again find landowners who want to participate in the program, so we can increase the acres for hunters and recreationalists to use in the west, central and southern areas of the state,” said Amber Knutson, DNR’s Walk-In Access and grassland coordinator. “We also thank landowners who agree to participate in the program and offer public access on their private land.”

In addition to hunting, the public can use these sites for activities such as bird watching and nature photography. All users of the sites must purchase a $3 Walk-In Access Validation online at the Minnesota DNR website, via the DNR mobile licensing app, or in-person wherever Minnesota DNR licenses are sold. The sites are open from Sept. 1, 2026, through May 31, 2027.

To search for Walk-In Access sites, find digital maps for individual sites, and get more information, visit the DNR Walk-In Access webpage. Additionally, all Walk-In Access sites are shown on the Minnesota DNR Recreation Compass.

Current funding for the program includes a grant from the USDA-NRCS, a surcharge on nonresident hunting licenses and voluntary donations.