Two non-profit environmental groups are requesting the Minnesota Court of Appeals bar the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) from proceeding with the forthcoming wolf hunt.

The House and Senate on Thursday passed a conference report that reduces that further streamlines the environmental review permitting process. The bill, which is a priority for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, now awaits a decision by Gov. Mark Dayton

Legislation to allow a wolf hunting season in Minnesota is scheduled on Thursday to be heard in a state House committee. The House bill and the DNR disagree about the timing of the wolf season.

In an attempt to stop a feud between Twin Cities-area and rural legislators over parks and trails funding, Rep. Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City, got a compromise amended onto the Legacy funding bill.

Four state agency heads have weighed in against the environment budget bills that are currently in conference committee.

Tom Landwehr's appointment to head the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) represents a return to the place where he cut his teeth in wildlife management in the 1980s and '90s.

Former senators Dennis Frederickson and Bob Lessard are among new DNR commissioner Tom Landwehr's lieutenants.

Gov. Mark Dayton has signed an executive order that sets expedited goals for state environmental agencies to approve permits. His order is similar to legislation authored by Republicans in the Legislature.

Amid heavy lobbying from mining interests in northern Minnesota, Mark Dayton named The Nature Conservancy's Tom Landwehr to head the state Department of Natural Resources.

Although it might sound unMinnesotan, a state representative from northern Minnesota is so alarmed by the threat of invasive species that he's introduced a bill that would ban new public access points on lakes.