Survey of public perceptions of the impacts, use, and future of Minnesota lakes

The University of Minnesota Sea Grant Program and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources recently designed a survey to learn about the public's perceptions of the condition of Minnesota lakes. This survey, mailed to a random sampling of Minnesota residents, offered Minnesotans an opportunity to provide input into public policy discussions about the future management of lake resources.

Lakes are a public resource, owned in common by all Minnesotans. As such, Minnesotans play a central role in setting the future direction for "their" lakes. Effective management programs require public support to be successful. One way to gather that support is to ensure the public has opportunities to affect the design and implementation of the management programs.

Descriptive results of this survey are available in PDF documents.