Minnesota Agencies

Game and Fish Fund citizen oversight committees meet regularly with leaders of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for the purpose of reviewing DNR's budgets, spending plans and other related information related to the Game and Fish Fund under statutory authority in Minnesota Statutes, section 97A.055, subd. 4b. --from DNR website.

There are three oversight committees in total: the Fisheries Oversight Committee (FOC), the Wildlife Oversight Committee (WOC), and an umbrella group, the Budgetary Oversight Committee (BOC), made up of members of the previous two committees listed. The Fisheries Oversight Committee (FOC) and the Wildlife Oversight Committee (WOC) continue a citizen oversight function created in 1994.

The Game and Fish Fund Citizens Oversight Committees were reviewed by the Legislative Commission on Planning and Fiscal Policy (LCPFP) in 2013 as part of their biennial duty required by Minn. Stat. 3.885 Subd. 11. The LCPFP's 2013 Recommendations called for keeping the committees.

The Fisheries Oversight Committee, the Wildlife Oversight Committee, and the Budgetary Oversight Committee expire June 30, 2025, an extension provided in 2019 (see Laws of Minn. 2019, 1st Spec. Sess., chap. 4, art. 3, sec. 47). 

Each committee has at least ten members. The Budgetary Oversight Committee is formed from the chairs of the FOC, the WOC, and four additional members from each committee. The commissioner of DNR appoints a chair of the the Budgetary Oversight Committee that is not affiliated with either the FOC or WOC.

Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources