Valley Area
Wednesday, June 20, 2018 Thursday, June 21, 2018
SUMMER RECREATION Guide
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Explore outdoors at State Aquatic Management Areas Waters, woods and wildlife can be found in state public areas By PAT BECK
pbeck@stpeterherald.com
If you like going to quiet, scenic places at the end of the road, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources State Aquatic Management Areas are for you. AMAs provide angler and management access, protect critical shore land habitat and provide areas for education and research. AMAs protect lakeshore, streams and wetlands. Some are even islands. Waterville Area Fisheries owns and maintains almost 1,700 acres of land on 30 AMAs in the nine-county area (Le Sueur, Rice, Steele, Blue Earth, Dodge, Freeborn, Mower, Faribault and Waseca). These AMAs range in size from 1.6 acres to over 375 acres. Most AMAs provide hunting and fishing access, but some do not. The Aquatic Management Area program administers more than 700 AMAs and 770 shore land miles in 73 of Minnesota’s 87 counties. Hunting regulations on AMAs are the same as on Wildlife Man-
Krista Hesse of Madison Lake removes a hoook from a rainbow trout she caught in St. Peter Trouts, one of the Aquatic Managment Areas maintened by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Wateville Area Fisheries.
WEBSITE TO FIND AQUATIC MANAGEMENT AREAS
Krista Hesse and Justin Leopold, both of Madison Lake, fish in one of the three St. Peter Trout Ponds, one of the gneral Aquatic Managment Areas where th epublic can fish, hunt, trap and observe wildlife. (Pat Beck photos/St. Peter Herald)
agement Areas (WMAs). There are three types of AMAs • General Use: Angling, hunting, trapping, non-motorized travel, and wildlife observation are allowed. • Restricted Use: Angling, non-motorized travel, and wild-
Francis Lake life observation are allowed. NO Area: 25.79 acres HUNTING. Use Type: Restricted • Easement: Only angling is Waterbody: Frances (0 ft) allowed. Waterville area has 30 AMAs The Francis Lake AMA is with nearly 1,700 acres of land. mostly backwater ponding and Le Sueur County has six woodsy area, but there is a trail AMAs: that leads to a small lakeside
shorefishing area where the backwater flows into the main lake. Angling is allowed but not hunting because of the nearby housing. It provides protection for the wetland area and habitat for the lake and the water that flows into it.
The DNR has created a new webpage for finding AMAs and determining what uses are allowed. To see more go to https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/ amas/index.html You can search for an AMA by county or by use type such as hunting or fishing.
Craig Soupir, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Waterville Area Fisheries supervisor, said it provides spring access to the north shore of the lake and is a popular area to walk out
See AMA on 2C