Following a 2023 law, Upper Sioux Agency State Park was transferred to the Upper Sioux Community Pezihutazizi Oyate in February and officially deauthorized in 2024. Parks & Trails Council supported that transfer. The 2024 Legislature also deauthorized Hill Annex Mine State Park to allow active mining to resume on the site. Hill Annex Mine sits on School Trust Land, and the park’s origination legislation had stipulated that it would revert to mining if such activity ever became economically viable again.
The de-authorization of the two parks means Minnesota’s state park system is 1,900 acres smaller than it was a year ago, and replacing those losses with new parkland is a top priority for Parks & Trails Council. The 2023 Legislature authorized $5 million to facilitate the transfer at Upper Sioux Agency, and the DNR is working on finding suitable replacement land. The 2024 Legislature did authorize several small park expansions at Father Hennepin, Banning, and Lake Louise State Parks in 2024, and P&TC has started working with legislators to make another $10 million available for state park land acquisition (HF 5446 / SF 5506). Those bills failed to pass, along with the rest of the bonding bill, but funding more state park replacement land will be a priority for us moving forward.