Minnesota officials: Large docks create ‘a city on the lake’

MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota, the state that calls itself the Land of 10,000 Lakes, has a problem with docks.

Department of Natural Resources officials tell the Star Tribune they are seeing more people building platforms that are larger than the maximum allowable size of 170 square feet for a dock. Officials say the large docks can interfere with natural shoreline vegetation and affect fish spawning areas.

DNR hydrologist Darrin Hoverson says the huge platforms also make people feel they are “in a city on the lake” and don’t feel like they are “much in tune with nature.”

Wildlife agents have not been assertive about enforcement. Rather than writing tickets and ordering cabin owners to dismantle docks, they are giving owners information about size regulations and asking them to change their dock configurations next year.

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Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com