Identifying Climate-Resilient Fisheries to Guide Minnesota Lake Management - Proposal ID 2026-499 - Request for Proposal

Oct 13, 2026

2026 Request for Proposal 2026-499 outlines a multi-lake project to understand how Minnesota fisheries respond to climate warming and to determine conditions that support multi-species resilience. The work will use long-term fish habitat data, field sampling, and analyses of abundance, growth, and recruitment to identify “bright spots” and develop decision options in the Resist-Accept-Direct framework. Outcomes aim to protect ecological, economic, and recreational lake value by informing Minnesota DNR management tools and actions.

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CategoryLetters

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Pages16

Reading Time6 min

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General Information

Proposal Identification

Proposal Summary

Project Basic Information

Project Location

Narrative

Proposed Solution and Outcomes

Project Outcomes

Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund 2026 Request for Proposal General Information Proposal ID: 2026-499 Proposal Title: Identifying Climate-Resilient Fisheries to Guide Minnesota Lake Management Project Manager Information Name: Gretchen Hansen Organization: U of MN-College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences Office Telephone: (612) 624-4228 Email: [ghansen@umn.edu](ghansen@umn.edu) Project Basic Information Project Summary: We will assess factors supporting multi-species resilience to climate change, identify “bright spots”where fisheries thrive despite changing habitats, and develop decision options within the Resist-Accept-Direct framework for fisheries management. ENRTF Funds Requested: $671,000 Proposed Project Completion: June 30, 2029 LCCMR Funding Category: Fish and Wildlife (D) Project Location What is the best scale for describing where your work will take place? Statewide What is the best scale to describe the area impacted by your work? Statewide When will the work impact occur? During the Project and In the Future Narrative Describe the opportunity or problem your proposal seeks to address. Include any relevant background information. Minnesota’s lakes and fisheries are changing as climate warming reshapes aquatic habitats. Warming temperatures have resulted in loss of coldwater and coolwater habitat habitat in a significant number of Minnesota lakes, while others have gained warmwater habitat. However, we do not yet fully understand what these changes mean for fish populations. Fish populations respond to climate change through multiple pathways, including shifts in growth, abundance, and recruitment, but these responses are shaped by local conditions such as shoreline development, in-lake habitat, water levels, and species interactions. Popular sport fish such as walleye are declining in some lakes, while warmwater species like largemouth bass are increasing. Yet, responses to warming are highly variable—some lakes are faring worse than expected, while others maintain strong fisheries despite habitat loss. Identifying these “bright spots” and the conditions that support them is critical to informing effective management. Some lakes may support healthy populations of multiple species, while others face tradeoffs—such as high walleye abundance occurring only when northern pike numbers are low. Understanding these dynamics is essential to guiding Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as it implements Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) strategies in lake management. What is your proposed solution to the problem or opportunity discussed above? Introduce us to the work you are seeking funding to do. You will be asked to expand on this proposed solution in Activities & Milestones. This project will identify factors that promote resilience across species and explore management actions that can help sustain Minnesota’s multispecies fisheries in a warming climate. We will conduct a multi-lake study to evaluate how fish populations respond to warming and assess what makes some lakes “bright spots” of resilience. Using long-term fish habitat data, we will identify case study lakes that have gained or lost key fish habitat and assess their fish communities using metrics of abundance, growth, and recruitment. We will identify characteristics of bright spot lakes based on input from fishery managers and field data collection. Field sampling will measure fish community structure, species interactions, food web dynamics, and limnological conditions across seasons. Additionally, we will engage fisheries managers and conservation practitioners to gather input on defining “good” fisheries and identifying actionable management strategies. Findings will be integrated into the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework to guide management options for multiple objectives across species in a changing environment, prioritizing conservation actions based on lake-sp

FAQs

What problem does the proposal address?

Minnesota’s lakes and fisheries are changing as climate warming reshapes aquatic habitats, but the implications for fish populations are not fully understood.

What approach will the project use to find “bright spots”?

The project will conduct a multi-lake study using long-term fish habitat data, evaluate fish communities with metrics of abundance, growth, and recruitment, and use field sampling and manager input to classify resilience conditions.

What outcomes are intended for public conservation purposes?

The research will provide science-based solutions to protect the economic, ecological, and recreational value of Minnesota’s lakes and produce decision options and practical tools to guide lake management.

Oct 13, 2026

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