Beyond his flannel shirt and camo hat, Tim Walz has made his mark in the politics of fish and game

Long before Gov. Tim Walz was introduced to national audiences as a hunter and outdoorsman, he broke through in Washington as an up-and-coming trap shooter in a small circle of his congressional colleagues who could handle a shotgun.

Former House Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Peterson, who represented Minnesota’s Seventh District for 30 years, welcomed Walz in 2007 to the perennially thin roster of Democrats who compete in the annual Congressional Shootout of clay pigeons.

“All of a sudden we had five of us who could shoot, and we beat the Republicans three or four years in a row,’’ Peterson said.

Walz got serious and started practicing, Peterson recalled. Eventually, the newcomer to the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus dethroned Peterson as the Democrats’ top gun. “He beat me by like one clay,’’ Peterson said.

Beyond a political wardrobe of flannel shirts and camo hats, Walz has a long record of involvement in hunting and fishing issues to go with his knack for bagging pheasants. Not always, however, has the Nebraska native been in step with the hook-and-bullet crowd.

When Peterson was writing farm bills, Walz was his “lieutenant’' on agriculture-related conservation issues. That included footwork on the all-important Conservation Reserve Program under which farmers receive federal payments to open millions of acres of idle land for hunting and other public recreation.

Walz also rose to leadership positions in the Sportsmen’s Caucus, known as one of the largest and most effective bipartisan caucuses in Congress. Peterson said it was founded in 1989 by Republicans and Democrats who believed environmentalists were taking control of issues pertaining to hunting, fishing, trapping, habitat conservation and recreational target shooting.

While in Congress, Walz received “A” ratings from the National Rifle Association.

Kim Scott, a premier outdoors lobbyist from Minnesota, said Walz would host potluck listening sessions on sporting issues while in Congress. She also remembers him fighting in Washington for protections against invasive fish species.

In Minnesota, Scott said, conservationists in every pocket of the outdoors have appreciated Walz’s support of the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council and the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources. The issues they deal with are sometimes thorny, she said, but the governor realizes the overall importance of keeping such rare funding sources alive.

“He’s always considered himself an outdoorsman and he’s had a pretty consistent approach,’’ Scott said.

That’s not to say Walz is universally liked for his fish and game politics. In north-central and northern Minnesota, the governor’s past leanings against wolf hunting have angered deer hunters and livestock owners. In addition, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) under the Walz administration has adhered to a timber harvest program that’s drawn harsh sanctions from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for potentially endangering taxpayer-created wildlife habitat.

In 2019, Walz came out in favor of a ban on wolf hunting. Later, he took a more nuanced approach when the DNR issued a new wolf plan. But as recently as May of last year, the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association dropped its support of the governor’s celebratory deer hunting opener. Association members were said to be overwhelmingly disgruntled by Walz’s positions on gun control and wolf management.

Later in 2023, a new deer hunters’ group held well-attended rallies across half of Minnesota to call attention to what members say is an overabundance of wolves preying heavily on whitetails. It’s a major conservation issue not being addressed by Walz and the DNR, the group has said.

Regarding DNR’s “sustainable’' timber harvest program, DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen’s leadership team has defended logging practices that many of the agency’s own wildlife managers and retirees have emphatically criticized. They’ve said since 2019 that the program — started under Gov. Mark Dayton – is leveling tree stands on public hunting lands needed as habitat for deer, moose, martens, fishers and birds.

Federal officials stepped in last year, putting a hold on $22 million in hunting-related grant money. The sanction was lifted early this year after lengthy discussions.

A special review of the problem will be published as early as this fall by the state Office of the Legislative Auditor.

Meanwhile, Walz has been riding a wave of goodwill since signing major supplemental funding for the outdoors passed by the 2023 Legislature. The so-called “Get Out MORE” campaign included $60 million for fish hatcheries and shore fishing infrastructure. Another $35 million was authorized for the modernization of boat landings.

Mark Holsten, executive director of the sportfishing coalition known as MN-FISH, said Walz was instrumental to the success. The governor personally met with MN-FISH leaders more than once, listening to their rationale and following up by validating it. He accepted the premise that Minnesota accepted the responsibility 100 years ago to invest in hatcheries and provide public access to lakes and rivers only to abandon that capital spending obligation over the past 20 years.

“We have to give him credit,’’ said Holsten, a former DNR commissioner. “Some of what intrigued him is we’re advocating not for ourselves, but for an investment back into state infrastructure.’’

Professional fishing guide Tom Neustrom, a MN-FISH board member, said Walz has genuine enthusiasm for the outdoors and knows how to fish, not just hunt. But the governor had to take part in eight or nine celebratory fishing openers in Minnesota before finally catching a walleye in 2022 with Neustrom at the helm.

Walz’s fishing party was on Cut Foot Sioux Lake and the 21-inch walleye that he caught and released provided a big moment for the cameras. But the highlight for Neustrom was when Walz suddenly stood still in the boat, marveling at the parade of passing anglers who were out to enjoy Opening Day. It was visual evidence that “Minnesota is about fishing,’’ Neustrom said.

“The governor gets it,’’ he said. “This is something special.’’