The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is accepting comments from July 28 until Aug. 27 on an environmental assessment worksheet related to the proposed Cedar Lake Manoomin Restoration Project, located in Carlton County.
The Minnesota Land Trust, in partnership with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe and the Minnesota DNR, proposes to reestablish water levels favorable for Manoomin (wild rice) productivity at Cedar Lake, a designated wild rice lake on the Fond du Lac Reservation.
The project would restore historic lake levels by removing downstream beaver dams and associated materials. It would also include installation of a s boat ramp to enable long-term lake management. Access to the boat ramp would be restricted to members of the Fond du Lac band for the purposes of vegetation management, outflow channel maintenance, and wild rice harvesting. It would not be open for general public use and would only be used for non-motored watercraft.
A copy of the environmental assessment worksheet is available on the project page of the DNR website.
A print copy may be requested by calling 651-259-5694.
The environmental assessment worksheet is also available for public review at the following locations:
- Cloquet Public Library, 320 14th St., Cloquet, MN 55720
- Duluth Public Library, 520 W. Superior St., Duluth, MN 55802
- DNR Library, 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, MN 55155
- Minneapolis Central Library, Government Documents, Second Floor, 300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55401
The environmental assessment worksheet notice was published in the Tuesday, July 28 edition of the EQB Monitor, a publication of the Environmental Quality Board.
How to comment
The DNR will accept comments until 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. People can submit comments on the environmental assessment worksheet by:
- Using the DNR’s online commenting webpage
- Mailing comments to Cedar Lake EAW Project Manager, Environmental Review Unit, DNR Ecological and Water Resources Division, 500 Lafayette Road, Box 25, St. Paul, MN 55155-4025
Anyone providing a mailing address or submitting online comments will receive a copy of the subsequent decision document, which will include responses to comments. Because all comments and related information are part of the public record for this environmental review, commenters’ names and email or postal addresses will be publicly available as they appear in the materials commenters submit.