Amy Klobuchar is committed to preserving Minnesota’s natural resources and protecting the environment. Klobuchar grew up in a family that valued the outdoors, with a grandfather who was an avid hunter, a dad who was a mountain climber, bicyclist, and winter sports enthusiast, and a mom who loved to fish and hike.
In the U.S. Senate, Amy Klobuchar championed policies protecting Minnesota’s lands and waters. She played a key role in passing landmark 2022 legislation that made a historic investment in protecting our environment and cosponsored the Great American Outdoors Act, which became law and funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund. She authored the Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection Act and the bipartisan Local Water Protection Act to reduce pollution. She also serves as vice-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force and supported the bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act to invest in state and Tribal fish and wildlife conservation. As lead Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Klobuchar worked to advance the largest package of public lands bills out of the Committee in decades and is working to pass it into law.
As Governor, Amy Klobuchar will protect Minnesota’s natural resources, from lakes and wetlands to forests and farmland. She knows we all share a responsibility to pass on the Minnesota way of life to future generations through conservation and smart policies that allow outdoor recreation, fishing, and hunting to thrive. She will promote strategies that protect public lands and wildlife habitat, preserve farmland, reduce fires and flooding, and keep our state’s air and water clean. Klobuchar’s plan will:
- Protect Minnesota’s lands and waters by continuing support for the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment.
- Support hunters, anglers, and outdoor recreation by strengthening habitat partnerships.
- Protect Minnesota’s wildlife with research funding and science-based policies.
- Expand the outdoor economy by investing in trails, water and land access, forests, and the travel destinations that depend on them.
- Prepare Minnesota for floods, storms, and fires by improving local readiness, strengthening the coordination of state programs, and bringing federal dollars home.
1. Protect Our Lands and Waters
Minnesotans have voted across party lines to protect the state’s lands and waters, from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment to the lottery-funded Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. Amy Klobuchar strongly supported the Legacy Amendment and in the U.S. Senate she has secured federal funding for habitat and restoration projects across Minnesota and worked with Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota to protect and enhance the federal conservation programs that keep working lands healthy. As Governor, she will protect what those Minnesota voters built. She will lay the groundwork to extend the Legacy Amendment before it sunsets, keep conservation funds invested in real, on-the-ground projects, and make drinking water safer in communities across the state.
Protect our lands, waters, and habitats.
- Extend the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Constitutional Amendment and continue to champion the work of the Outdoor Heritage Council. Amy Klobuchar was a strong and vocal supporter of the landmark Legacy Amendment when it was on the ballot in 2008. As Governor, she will set the groundwork to extend it before it sunsets, protecting the fund that has invested more than $4 billion in parks, habitat, and clean water. She will champion the work of the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, keeping it intact, independent, and citizen-led.Minnesotans can see first-hand the results of the Legacy Amendment funding, as well as federal funding secured by Klobuchar, in projects like the restoration of Marsh Lake on the Minnesota River, where Ducks Unlimited spent more than a decade working to bring back a 5,100-acre shallow lake that once held 80,000 migrating mallards. This project also reconnected the Pomme de Terre River to its historic channel and opened a fishway for native fish. Minnesotans can see this work in the Worthington Wells wildlife management areas, which protect the drinking water of the city of Worthington. And they can see it in habitat restoration across the Red River Valley that is reducing the risk of flooding for landowners and entire communities.From the beginning, the Legacy Amendment has also supported Minnesota’s arts and cultural heritage, and Klobuchar will keep the fund’s arts and cultural work strong alongside its conservation mission, including projects that help communities preserve historic spaces and revitalize downtowns.
- Keep the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund working for the outdoors. Minnesotans renewed the lottery-funded ENRTF with 77% support, dedicating 40% of state lottery proceeds to the outdoors through 2050. Amy Klobuchar will make sure those dollars are spent the way voters intended: on real, on-the-ground projects.
- Renew state parks and public lands by reducing the DNR’s deferred-maintenance backlog. As Governor, Klobuchar will work to build new DNR projects, from bridges to campgrounds, with climate-resilient, flood-mitigation standards when possible, so parks stay open and safe through floods.
- Fight for Minnesota’s conservation programs in Washington. Minnesota’s farmers and ranchers depend on federal conservation programs like the Conservation Reserve Program, the Conservation Stewardship Program, and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to keep their working lands healthy and productive. Amy Klobuchar has long worked with Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota to strengthen and expand these programs, and to ensure that the offices farmers count on are open and staffed. As Governor, she will continue this advocacy so that Minnesota farmers and ranchers who want to participate in these programs can access them and get the on-the-ground support they need.
- Support sustainable farming practices. Klobuchar will expand incentives for precision agriculture, helping farmers apply inputs more precisely, saving money and protecting soil and water. As Governor, she will work to expand voluntary incentive-based programs aimed at enhancing conservation, such as Minnesota’s soil-health equipment grants. Read more about Amy Klobuchar’s plan for the rural and agricultural community here: AmyKlobuchar.com/rural.
- Stand up for Minnesota’s public lands. Public lands belong to the people who use them. When Congress moved to strip protections from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and other federal lands through an unprecedented use of a procedural mechanism, Klobuchar voted no and warned it would have far-reaching consequences for public lands across the country. As Governor, she will oppose efforts to shrink the public lands and waters Minnesotans depend on, and she will work with partners like Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, and Minnesota’s land trusts to expand access to public lands.
Invest in safe drinking water.
- Make drinking water safer in communities across the state. As Governor, Klobuchar will work to improve aging water infrastructure and deploy Water Quality Technical Strike Teams to give small towns and local governments the engineering expertise to design runoff mitigation.
- Put water dollars into real projects. As Governor, Klobuchar will support the state’s Clean Water Fund dollars going to on-the-ground work that will have long-term, durable benefits for the state. She will pair state clean-water dollars with federal USDA conservation programs, including the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program.
2. Support Hunters, Anglers, and Outdoor Recreation
Hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation are a big part of Minnesota’s heritage, and they are part of Amy Klobuchar’s own family’s heritage, too. In the U.S. Senate, she cosponsored the bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act to increase hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting access for sportsmen and women, and worked to expand the “open fields” program that creates public hunting and fishing opportunities on private land. As Governor, she will build on that work by opening more land to public access, strengthening habitat partnerships, putting more Department of Natural Resources (DNR) staff in the field, and recruiting the next generation of outdoor enthusiasts.
- Expand access to public lands. In the U.S. Senate, Amy Klobuchar worked to expand access to public lands for hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation. She passed the bipartisan federal Sportsmen’s Act into law and led the reauthorization of the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program, the federal fund behind state walk-in programs, which was endorsed by Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, and the National Wild Turkey Federation. As Governor, she will continue that work, including by expanding Minnesota’s Walk-In Access program, which compensates private landowners who voluntarily open their land to hunters.
- Strengthen habitat partnerships. As Governor, Klobuchar will partner with land trusts and sportsmen’s groups such as Pheasants Forever and Ducks Unlimited, as well as Minnesota’s land trusts, and build on her federal partnership work. She will push state agencies out of their silos so habitat, clean-water, and flood-mitigation dollars are targeted and leveraged together, the way the Worthington Wells partnership secured both wildlife habitat and a fix for the city’s drinking water.
- Rebuild the DNR’s presence in Greater Minnesota. As Governor, Klobuchar will put more staff in the field than in the office, reversing the decline in conservation officers, wildlife biologists, and fisheries staff based in Greater Minnesota. Klobuchar will strengthen Minnesota’s conservation workforce and ensure our natural resources are protected, our outdoor traditions continue, and communities have the expertise to manage healthy ecosystems.
- Recruit the next generation of outdoor enthusiasts. As Governor, Klobuchar will expand youth mentorship, outdoor education, school forest programs, and learn-to-fish and learn-to-hunt opportunities throughout the state.
3. Protect Minnesota’s Wildlife
Minnesota’s wildlife face real pressures, from the loss of wetland habitat to chronic wasting disease and invasive species. We need policies that preserve our wildlife habitats, open spaces, and farmlands. In the U.S. Senate, Amy Klobuchar led the fight for continued funding of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, the public-private partnership that matches federal funds to protect and restore wetlands, and she authored the bipartisan provision that permanently closed the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock to keep invasive carp from moving upstream into Minnesota’s lake country. As Governor, she will work to restore the wetland habitat that waterfowl depend on, support a science-driven response to chronic wasting disease with sustained funding for testing and research, and take on invasive species before they spread.
- Launch a Minnesota waterfowl recovery effort. As Governor, Klobuchar will work to restore and manage shallow lakes and wetlands, working with sportsmen’s groups and habitat partners to bring back the wetland habitat that ducks and duck hunting depend on. In the U.S. Senate, she led the fight for continued funding of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, which protects and restores vital wetlands for migratory birds. She also strongly supports the Duck Stamp Program, which spotlights Minnesota artists while funding permanent waterfowl habitat protection. As Governor, she will launch a waterfowl recovery effort focused on restoring the conditions that let waterfowl populations recover.
- Take on aquatic invasive species. Klobuchar has long fought to protect Minnesota’s waterways from invasive species, including authoring the bipartisan 2014 provision that permanently closed the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock to stop invasive carp. As Governor, she will finish the job by completing the invasive carp deterrent at Lock and Dam 5 to safeguard Minnesota’s outdoor heritage for future generations. She will also continue to focus on all invasive species that pose a threat to our waters.
- Take on chronic wasting disease and support wildlife health. As Governor, Klobuchar will support a science-driven response to chronic wasting disease, including sustained funding for testing, carcass disposal, and research. In the U.S. Senate, she pushed the Departments of Agriculture and Interior to provide resources to combat chronic wasting disease and passed legislation providing $70 million a year for chronic wasting disease research and management.
- Manage Minnesota’s wildlife. Klobuchar supports pragmatic wildlife management that meets the goals of the Endangered Species Act while keeping decisions about Minnesota’s wildlife in Minnesota. She has backed bipartisan wildlife conservation bills, including the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. She has also supported bipartisan legislation to return gray wolf management to the states once populations recover, while maintaining the ability to relist wolves if populations decline.
4. Expand the Outdoor Economy
The outdoors have drawn people to Minnesota for generations. Whether it’s hunting or fishing, canoeing or kayaking, biking or hiking, outdoor recreation is a major economic engine supporting small businesses, resorts, and communities across the state. In the U.S. Senate, when the Recreational Trails Program was targeted for cuts, Amy Klobuchar rallied a bipartisan group of senators to protect the trails used by snowmobilers, off-highway motorcyclists, all-terrain vehicle riders, bicyclists, and cross-country skiers. As Governor, she will work with leaders of Minnesota’s outdoors economy to strengthen the trails, water access, forests, and habitat that this economy is built on to support communities across Minnesota.
- Strengthen Minnesota’s trail networks. As Governor, Klobuchar will support snowmobile, ATV, hiking, biking, and cross-country skiing trail networks in every way possible, including through the grant-in-aid club system. She will keep winter and motorized traditions strong across Greater Minnesota, and work with Minnesota’s recreational sports businesses, like Polaris and Arctic Cat. In the U.S. Senate, Klobuchar led the bipartisan effort to strengthen and fully fund the federal Recreational Trails Program that Minnesota’s trails rely on, and has worked extensively in Washington with the recreational sports industry.
- Improve public water access, including boat landings, fishing piers, and shore-fishing sites. Minnesotans deserve more places to launch a boat, cast a line, and get out on the water. As Governor, Klobuchar will build on the Get Out MORE state investment that modernized boating access and fisheries infrastructure, including expanding the network of shore-fishing sites and piers.
- Champion the outdoor economy. As Governor, Klobuchar will continue and expand the Outdoor Recreation Industry Partnership. She will bring in Explore Minnesota, private-sector members, and outdoor-gear research and development, so the outdoor economy that contributes over $10 billion a year to our state keeps growing.
- Keep Minnesota’s forests a strong economic pillar. Klobuchar will support sustainable timber harvests and forest-products jobs, protect peatlands, invest in wildfire resilience across northern Minnesota, and improve forest health and habitat. She will create a Forest Bio-Packaging and Innovation Initiative to leverage Minnesota’s forest biomass for wood-fiber packaging and bio-based materials. In the U.S. Senate, Klobuchar worked across the aisle to improve the State and Private Landscape Restoration Program, which funds projects that protect forests, reduce wildfire risk, and conserve wildlife habitat.
- Support Minnesota’s family resorts. As Governor, Klobuchar will work to keep Minnesota’s small resorts in local hands by building public-private partnerships that provide the expertise, resources, and investment to preserve these community anchors for generations to come.
- Give Minnesota sixth graders a “Passport to Minnesota.” As Governor, Klobuchar will work to provide a free one-year pass for sixth-grade students and their families to visit state parks, as well as participating museums and historic sites, paired with the sixth-grade Minnesota history curriculum.
- Make neighborhood sports affordable and available. As Governor, Klobuchar will keep taxpayer-funded fields and ice rinks, like those built through the James Metzen Mighty Ducks Act, open to the community by limiting overly exclusive private leases, and use state authority to keep Minnesota’s nation-leading community ownership of athletic facilities from being bought up by out-of-state, investor-owned enterprises.
5. Prepare Minnesota for Natural Disasters
Floods, storms, and wildfires cause serious damage across Minnesota, and we need to be ready when natural disasters strike. In the U.S. Senate, Amy Klobuchar led Minnesota’s federal delegation in advocating for federal disaster relief, secured provisions in the Water Resources Development Act to improve shoreline resiliency and flood protection, and pressed the federal government to ensure we have the resources and firefighters to protect against and fight wildfires in Minnesota. As Governor, she will strengthen disaster response, coordinate the state’s work, and keep bringing federal dollars home.
- Respond to floods and severe storms. As Governor, Klobuchar will strengthen flood mitigation and emergency preparedness, work with farmers on programs that reduce erosion, and aggressively pursue federal disaster and resilience funding. In the U.S. Senate, Klobuchar has led Minnesota’s federal delegation in advocating for federal disaster relief, including Army Corps of Engineers funding to build and rebuild multiple projects, USDA and EPA resilience grants, and funding through the Water Resources Development Act, and she will continue that work as Governor.
- Strengthen wildfire readiness in northern Minnesota. Northern Minnesota’s fire risk is rising, as evidenced by the 2026 far-reaching Boundary Waters Canoe Area fires. The June 2025 derecho in Bemidji is an example of a storm that left millions of downed trees, which increases the risk of fires for years to come. As U.S. Senator, Klobuchar has pressed the federal government to ensure it has the resources and firefighters to fight and prevent fires in Minnesota and across the country. She has also supported legislation to cut red tape, increase interagency coordination, and invest in community resilience. As Governor, Klobuchar will partner with local, Tribal, and federal governments on fuel reduction and community risk reduction; invest in the equipment, training, and staffing that local and volunteer fire departments need; strengthen mutual-aid agreements and regional emergency coordination; press the federal government to fund hazardous-fuels work on federal land in Minnesota; and support communities doing the defensible-space and evacuation planning that keeps people safe.
- Coordinate disaster resilience. As Governor, Klobuchar will consolidate and better coordinate the state’s overlapping climate-resilience entities. She will establish measurable goals for community preparedness, emergency planning, shelters, backup power, and recovery programs.
