Bait bucket drainage, boat decals are the law

Minnesota anglers must drain their portable minnow and leech buckets when they leave any waters -- not just waters infested with invasive species -- if they want to keep their bait under a bill passed by the Legislature and signed into law Friday by Gov. Mark Dayton.

The bait bucket provision, one of several affecting the state's 1.4 million anglers, goes into effect immediately and is intended to fight the spread of invasive species.

Before, anglers were required to empty portable bait buckets of water only after leaving infested waters. Anglers will have to bring extra water if they want to keep their minnows and leeches alive, officials said. Then after draining their bait buckets at landings, they can refill them with clean water. It's illegal to dump bait in lakes or on the ground, and most public accesses don't have garbage cans.

The law also requires the state's 800,000 boaters to place a free invasive species decal on their boats. The stickers will remind boaters to comply with the laws, including draining all water and removing vegetation or invasive species from boats and trailers. That provision goes into effect Aug. 1, and the DNR will distribute the stickers this summer.

Another major provision gives the DNR more authority to inspect boats at public or private locations where boats are in plain view, if officers believe they might be infected. It allows the DNR to set up check and decontamination stations that are not at boat landings, where boaters will be required to stop.

"We'll set them up at key target areas around the state," said the DNR's Luke Skinner. Boaters who refuse inspection could be prevented from launching.

The same law also will allow Lutsen Resort to take up to 150 million gallons of water annually for five years from the Poplar River for snow-making.

"This isn't our preferred outcome," said DNR commissioner Tom Landwehr. "But it gets us some things we want." That includes a minimum water flow and a five-year sunset provision.

Turkey harvest downMinnesota's spring wild turkey season closed with a whimper Thursday with hunters bagging the fewest birds in four years. The unofficial tally: Hunters killed about 10,026 birds after last year's record harvest of 13,381. That's a 25 percent decline. Officials say cold, rainy weather is mostly to blame, though bird numbers appear down, too.