Minnesota public land trivia: By the numbers
Friday is Public Lands Day across Minnesota.
Gov. Mark Dayton made the proclamation this week while noting that public land "contribute to the state economy and are the backbone of outdoor recreation and tourism in Minnesota."
You may ask: What exactly are public lands? Well, they're a network of spaces managed by the state Department of Natural Resources.
They include land for just about any outdoor activity you could imagine — hiking, bird-watching, fishing, camping, etc.
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For this Public Lands Day, here's a by-the-numbers breakdown that paints a picture of all the public land this state has to offer:
• 5.6 million: Total acreage the DNR manages. It's about an acre of public land per Minnesotan or 11 percent of the state's total area.
• 24 percent: Amount of Minnesota land publicly managed by state, federal and county authorities. All told, it's over 12 million acres.
• 4,100: Miles of hiking, biking, horse and motorized trails within state parks, recreation areas and forests.
• 21,300: Miles of DNR-managed snowmobile trails.
• $32 million: Dollars the state paid to counties in fiscal year 2016 as a form of local government aid known as PILT, or payment in lieu of taxes, for the tax-exempt public natural resource land.
• 800,000: Annual minimum of cords of wood put up for sale from DNR-managed forest land.
• 49: Number of rare species that live only on public land.
• $16.9 million: Dollars of revenue in fiscal year 2017 generated by state-owned mineral rights.
• 509,000: Number of people who visit public lands and other Minnesota destinations to watch wildlife each year.
• 59: Number of state forests, school trust acres and other forested lands in Minnesota. They cover some 4.2 million acres.
• 1,600: Approximate number of public water access sites the DNR manages.
• 27 percent: Amount of DNR land the agency bought, through county board action or acquired as a gift.
• $231 million: Annual amount spent by state park visitors on trip-related expenses.
All data from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.