Release the record
Publish nonconfidential findings, recommendations, sensitivity ratings, and a redaction log for anything withheld.
Why we’re here
Protect the public’s right to know before access is lost.
The issue is not whether sensitive cultural-resource information deserves protection. Exact locations can be protected. The public still needs the nonconfidential basis for the decision, the process used to reach it, the alternatives considered, and the remedy for permit holders who paid for system access that includes Minnehaha. Learn more about the issue
The public demands are simple. The MPRB MUST disclose what can lawfully be disclosed, justify what is being withheld, DO and RELEASE a real alternatives and replacement analysis, and, most importantly, suspend implementation until the public can meaningfully respond to a real plan.
Public Core Demands
Account for process
Identify briefings, attendees, legal basis for any closed meetings, and whether required recordings exist.
Replace access first
Fund equivalent off-leash capacity before closing a major amenity relied on by annual permit holders.
Proposed solutions
Mitigation and replacement should be analyzed before closure.
Different factual predicates require different remedies. A protected exact location, a broader sensitivity rating, ceremonial-use incompatibility, or a recommendation for further survey do not automatically require the same response.
Minnehaha Off-Leash Recreation Area includes more than six acres of trails, wooded terrain, and riverbank. Without a disclosed factual basis showing why the most heavily used sandy riverbank and trail areas cannot be protected, full closure strains credibility. Mitigation appears feasible and should be evaluated through tailored boundaries, fencing, monitoring, seasonal or use restrictions, and clear enforcement before any decommissioning decision.
Complete and release further survey
If the basis is uncertainty, MPRB should complete and release nonconfidential survey findings before treating closure as inevitable.
Protect sensitive information
Withhold exact protected locations where law requires it, but disclose segregable public portions: conclusions, recommendations, risk ratings, and policy findings.
Complete and release real analysis of mitigation
Analyze tailored boundaries, fencing, reduced areas, restricted zones, leash buffers, monitoring, and enforcement before full decommissioning.
Replace before removal
Fund equivalent off-leash capacity before access is lost, including acreage, travel burden, fencing, water access, parking, system crowding, and the responsibilities owed to permit holders and taxpayers.
Additionally, the MPRB and the community can both support protection of Mni Owe Sni, burial sites, and cultural resources more robustly than simply closing a park. A more meaningful response to these findings would invest in protection, education, and recognition of the actual sites identified, or further study the area to do so. Clearly protecting these sensitive areas; erecting educational, recognition, and interpretive features developed with Dakota leadership; and restoring areas where appropriate would do more to honor the site than simply decommissioning the dog park first and developing a plan later.
Protecting access to the riverbank and areas not shown to contain burial or archaeological resources is not only possible; it is the stronger path. With disclosure, targeted mitigation, and equivalent replacement planning, MPRB can protect sacred and sensitive places while preserving public access where continued use is appropriate. That is the kind of careful, inclusive, and durable solution that would better serve the entire community of Minnesotans.
What park visitors can do
Make the process visible, documented, and impossible to ignore.
The goal is a useful public record: one that forces MPRB to answer the factual basis for closure, disclose legally public data, analyze mitigation, and address permit-holder reliance before access is removed.
Send a focused commissioner letter
Ask for the factual predicate, alternatives considered, meeting history, replacement capacity, and permit-holder remedies.
Document reliance
Keep screenshots, permit receipts, closure notices, testimony, meeting agendas, and any unanswered public-comment submissions.
Demand a real hearing
Ask for a public hearing after disclosure, not engagement after decommissioning has already been treated as inevitable.
Sign the petition
Add your name to the public demand for disclosure, alternatives analysis, replacement access, and a pause before implementation.
Support public-records funding
Help fund document procurement and preservation fees, and possible legal counsel for injunctive relief if implementation moves forward without a disclosed plan.