Minnesota State Park Permit, Hunting and Fishing for Veterans

Minnesota's outdoor benefits sit at three different rating levels and one of them is zero. The state park permit is the generous one. Section 85.053, subdivision 10 requires the commissioner of natural resources to issue an annual park permit at no charge to any veteran with any level of service-connected disability as determined by VA. A 10 percent rating is enough. In this catalog that is the widest park access test yet recorded; Wisconsin, for comparison, asks for 70 percent or former prisoner of war status and gives everyone else two days a year. The condition is the paperwork. The veteran must present each year a copy of the VA determination letter or other official validation issued by VA or the Department of Defense to a park attendant or the commissioner's designee. This is not a permanent card. The permit or decal is valid only when displayed on a vehicle owned and occupied by the person it was issued to, and a qualifying veteran who does not own or operate a motor vehicle may be issued a free daily vehicle permit instead. Hunting and fishing licences are free at 100 percent. Section 97A.441, subdivisions 5, 6 and 6a require a licence agent to issue, without a fee, a permanent licence to take fish by angling, a licence to take deer with firearms or by archery, and a licence to take small game, to a resident who is a veteran under section 197.447 with a 100 percent service-connected disability as defined by VA. The commissioner must issue a permanent card documenting the status on request, and a driver's licence or state ID bearing the "Veteran 100% T&P" designation under section 171.07, subdivision 15 serves as satisfactory evidence at every agent location. A reduced-fee tier at 50 percent is coming but is not here. Laws 2025, First Special Session, chapter 1, article 4, section 9 added section 97A.465, subdivision 9, which requires a licence agent to issue deer, small game and angling licences at the reduced fee specified in section 97A.475 to a resident veteran with a 50 to 99 percent service-connected disability. The Revisor's note records that the subdivision is effective March 1, 2027. A veteran at 70 percent has nothing under this provision today. Several benefits turn on recent service rather than on a rating. A resident in the armed forces stationed outside the state and in Minnesota on leave may hunt and fish without a licence on production of official military leave papers, taking the required seals, tags and coupons free of charge, except for moose and elk. A resident who served at any time in the preceding 24 months in federal active service outside the United States as a member of the National Guard, a reserve component or on active duty, and has been discharged from that service, may take small game and fish without a licence on production of discharge papers, and the commissioner must issue that person one free either-sex deer licence. A resident discharged during, or within ten days before, the firearms deer season may obtain a firearm deer licence during the season that is valid immediately on issuance. Lottery preference is separate again. Section 97A.465, subdivision 5 lets the commissioner give first preference in any hunting or fishing drawing or lottery to a qualified service member or veteran, defined as a Minnesota resident currently serving or who served at any time during the past 24 months in active service, or who holds a Purple Heart, or who has a service-connected disability rated at 100 percent. It does not apply to moose, elk or prairie chickens. A Purple Heart recipient therefore gets lottery preference but still buys the licence. Nonresidents get two routes. A nonresident member of the National Guard may obtain a resident licence to take game, other than moose or elk, and a nonresident Guard member or the spouse of one may obtain a resident licence to take fish. A person in the armed forces stationed in Minnesota may be issued a resident licence to take game other than moose or elk, and that person or their spouse a resident angling licence. A nonresident in the military and training at Camp Ripley may obtain a resident fishing licence. A resident of a Minnesota veterans home may obtain a firearm or muzzleloader deer licence and take an antlerless deer without a permit in any permit area open during the respective season, and a person may assist that resident during the season without a deer licence, though the helper may not shoot a deer.