The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has added two Northern Minnesota counties to a deer feeding and attractant ban.
The ban now extends to Becker and Clearwater counties.
The intent of the ban is to reduce the risk of chronic wasting disease spread, following detections of CWD in wild deer in new areas of the state last year. Feeding encourages deer to unnaturally congregate, which can increase the likelihood of transmission if a deer is infected.
The other new counties are Grant, McLeod and Meeker.
These counties join 32 others: Aitkin, Anoka, Beltrami, Carver, Cass, Clay, Crow Wing, Dakota, Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Hennepin, Houston, Hubbard, Itasca, Le Sueur, Mower, Norman, Olmsted, Polk, Ramsey, Rice, Scott, Sherburne, Sibley, Steele, Traverse, Wabasha, Washington, Wilkin, Winona and Wright counties.
Even in areas outside the ban, the DNR discourages people from feeding deer.
"People interested in helping deer should focus efforts on improving habitat to provide long-term food resources and shelter," a DNR news release stated.
-
Plus: Minnesota faces storage drought; Forest tent caterpillars cause tree damage -
Stella Mayerhoff/KAXE / Report for AmericaThe meeting was an early step in the environmental review process required by state law for any proposed mines in Minnesota. -
Contributed/Trina Swanson / Luke GulbransonTrina Swanson has raised the most of the two candidates vying to challenge Rep. Pete Stauber, though the Republican has raised significantly more than Swanson and Luke Gulbranson. -
Co-hosts Heidi Holtan and Charlie Mitchell discover goblin ferns (also known as goblin moonworts), gaze at snapping turtles, and discuss what it means to be a naturalist.Send us a voice memo through Speak Pipe! -
Emma Krab/KAXEMesaba State Rooms lodging project did not align with city plans, Nashwauk City Council decided. -
Events this week include Mines and Pines Revisited in Hibbing, a program on pond critters at Lake Bemidji State Park and a night out in Brainerd. -
Plus: MN DNR took comments on Tamarack Mining Project; and proposed lodging denied by Nashwauk City Council
-
Kari Hedlund/KAXEThis month, the KAXE Music Team gets another assist from fellow staffer Jennifer Barr, helping us put a wrap on music released in July in the latest "Spin That Ish." -
Contributed/Pixabay via PexelsThe company cited "unforeseen business circumstances" as the reason for reducing its operation and laying off employees in a notice to the state. -
Contributed/Courtney Celley/USFWSDuring the Phenology Report for the week of August 4, 2026, Staff Phenologist John Latimer remarks on ripening berries and nuts and caterpillars turning into butterflies.
