City of Duluth Natural Resources Management Program
With 42 named streams, 10,000 acres of public land, an Estuary and Great Lake, land stewardship in the City of Duluth is a monumental task. In 2018, the City’s first Natural Resources Coordinator came on board and began to coalesce information, partners, and funding to help guide the City in its efforts to be more intentional in managing the unique natural resources that characterize Duluth. At about this time, the City Forester position was re-instated to help coordinate the City’s response to Emerald Ash Borer and the Urban Tree Commission evolved into the Natural Resources Commission.
The Natural Resources Coordinator is funded by both the Parks and Recreation Division and the Parks Maintenance Division. A small budget is also available every year to be put towards small scale natural resources projects such as eradicating invasive species, developing plans or providing match for a partner’s project.
The Natural Resources Management Program Plan (NRMPP)
In 2019, the City received a generous grant from the Environmental Protection Agency/Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to develop a plan for managing the City’s natural resources. With the help of the Minnesota Land Trust, a technical team, and a consultant, the NRMPPP was completed and approved by the Natural Resources Commission and the City Council in March of 2022.
The mission of the NRMPP is to identify, assess, and invest in the most meaningful tracts of Duluth’s publicly owned open space lands in order to preserve their ecological functions and values, enhance the ecosystem services they provide, and reduce impacts of natural disasters. The NRMPP includes a set of adaptive tools designed to tell the on-going story of natural resource work in the City, document the decisions for project prioritization and strategies, and map and collect data to help us better understand the state of our natural resources.
The NRMPP is designed as a story map and is currently being updated. It will be posted on this page as soon as the update is complete.
You can also contact the City’s Natural Resources Coordinator at 218-580-9150 or kkubiak@duluthmn.gov for more information about the City’s natural resources management program.
Natural Resources Management - a Collaboration of Dedicated Departments and Partners
Managing the City of Duluth’s streams, wetlands, forests, and coastline involves an intentional, collaborative effort among several City departments, each focusing on protecting our streams, shorelines and habitats using their unique skills and capacities. The Natural Resources Coordinator is based out of the City’s Property Services Division, but works closely with city staff in the following departments:
The City’s Planning Division oversees environmental regulations relating to wetlands, floodplains, and shorelands. These regulations can be found in the Unified Development Code as part of the Natural Resources Overlay district. The Planning Division is also the Responsible Government Unit when an Environmental Assessment Worksheet needs to be completed for an upcoming project.
- Current Natural Resources Work with the Planning Dept includes: Supporting the Land Use Study Process for the former Lester Golf Course. This process will look at potential uses for the former golf course property including housing, recreation, and open space preservation.
The City of Duluth is one of many larger Cities in Minnesota that is permitted to discharge stormwater by the MPCA. This permit is called an MS4 permit, which allows entities to discharge Stormwater from its pipes and culverts into our streams as a way to manage flooding. Stormwater runoff is separate from sanitary sewage; sewer flows are conveyed through a separate system to WLSSD for treatment. The Engineering division is also responsible for enforcing city regulations regarding erosion and sediment control on active construction sites in order to ensure that dirt and other construction debris does not end up in our streams.
- Current Natural Resources Related Work with Engineering includes: Working with the MN DNR and stormwater colleagues on a green infrastructure project at 59th Ave. West. This green infrastructure project will allow stormwater to soak into the ground, instead of running, untreated, into nearby Keene Creek. Project completion is expected in late 2026.
Many of the City’s Parks are situated around, and named for, the streams that run through them, including Chester Park, Lester Park, and Keene Creek Park. The stewardship of these streams falls under the natural resources management program, Engineering/stormwater, the MN DNR, and the MPCA and many of our other dedicated partners. Our Designated Natural Areas also include parks and many of our City's most popular trail networks.
- Current Natural Resources Related Work with this department is mainly focused on managing our Designated Natural Areas.
The City Forester and the Natural Resources Coordinator are responsible for managing thousands of acres of City forestland. Though most of the City Forester's time is dedicated to maintaining street trees, the two positions are able to dedicate some time to projects in our larger forested areas as time and funding allow. Currently, the City does not have a City-wide Forest Management Plan, but a draft plan has been written and staff are working to finalize it. Other current forestry projects include:
- City Prescribed Fire Program - this project is only beginning to develop, but the idea is to have the Duluth Fire Dept and the natural resources/forestry staff work together to conduct some controlled burns in order to mitigate wildfire risk in areas with high fuel loads and/or use fire as a management tool in plant communities that are fire dependent - that is, communities like red and jack pine that need fire to thrive.
- Together with our partners at the MN Land Trust, we are planning a larger-scale forest enhancement project in the Mission Creek Forest, north of the Fond du Lac neighborhood. The project involves planting trees that are meant to be in the community, but are not regenerating due to heavy deer browse. There is also a lot of Ash in this area, which will soon die out, so planting native, desired trees now is important in order to ensure that the forest does not fill in with undesirable, invasive species.
The City is also extremely grateful to our many dedicated natural resource management partners who skillfully and thoughtfully carry out multiple large and small scale projects and planning efforts within the City. In any given year, our partners spend millions of dollars protecting and restoring natural resources in our City. Every year, we review these projects at an annual meeting. Since 2022, our partners have reported the following contributions to our City's Natural Resources, well-being and economic health:
2022: 26 projects totaling $27,647,871 ($19M of this represents large-scale St. Louis River Area of Concern Projects)
2023: 43 projects totaling $256,880,699 ($249M of this represents large-scale St. Louis River Area of Concern Projects)
2024: 25 projects totaling $31,456,750 ($25M of this represents large-scale St. Louis River Area of Concern Projects)
Some of Our Dedicated Natural Resources Management Partners
MN Land Trust and the Headwaters Partnership
- Minnesota Land Trust Honors City of Duluth – Partner of the Year | Press Release (mnland.org)
South St. Louis Soil and Water Conservation District
Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory
Hartley Nature Center
1854 Treaty Authority
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Natural Resources Research Institute/UMD
- Minnesota Natural Resource Atlas | Natural Resources Research Institute (umn.edu)
Minnesota Sea Grant
Izaak Walton League W.J. McCabe Chapter
Minnesota/Wisconsin Manoomin Collaborative
St. Louis River Habitat Work Group
