Peatland Watershed Protection Areas (WPAs)
Go to Section:- Overview
- Data Quality
- Data Organization
- Coordinate System
- Attributes
- Distribution - Get Data
- Metadata Reference
Section 1: Overview
Originator:Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
Title:
Peatland Watershed Protection Areas (WPAs)
Abstract:
This dataset represents the Peatland Watershed Protection Areas (WPAs) associated with Minnesota's 18 Peatland Scientific and Natural Areas (SNAs). WPAs were delineated in the early-mid 1980s as part of the Protection of Ecologically Significant Peatlands in Minnesota project and are referenced in Minnesota Rules 6132.2000 as areas where mining is restricted. The boundaries in this shapefile were likely digitized in 2007 from the original hand drawn maps contained in the 1984 peatland report.
Purpose:
WPAs serve as protective buffers around peatland core areas to minimize hydrologic and ecological impacts from adjacent land uses. This layer supports planning, permitting, ecological assessment, and peatland protection work across the Department of Natural Resources. It should not be used for regulatory purposes.
Statutory Context
• The Minnesota Peatland Protection Act (Minn. Stat. 84.035-84.036) lists Peatland SNAs by county but does not include legal descriptions or reference WPAs.
• WPAs are recognized in Minn. R. 6132.2000, Subp. 4(C), which restricts mining within WPAs and incorporates the 1984 peatland report by reference as the authoritative source for WPAs. This report also explicitly states that peat mining is prohibited within WPAs.
• The Minnesota State Law Library holds a DNR volume titled "Legal description and maps of peatland protection management areas" (Dec. 3, 1984), which appears to contain the legal descriptions referenced (but not included) in the published 1984 report.
Time Period of Content Date:
03/04/2026
Currentness Reference:
Origin and Lineage
• 1980-1984: WPA and SNA boundaries were hand drawn on USGS 7.5' quadrangles by Natural Heritage Program staff, led by Norm Aaseng, with input from Barbara Coffin, Jon Almendinger, and University of Minnesota collaborators (e.g., Paul Glaser, Jan Janssen).
• Boundaries were constrained by legislative requirements to follow 40 acre parcel lines (or half forties), resulting in diagonal and triangular shapes. Some ecological boundaries were adjusted to avoid merchantable timber due to internal and industry pressures.
• WPAs were not intended to represent formal watershed boundaries; they reflect best available understanding of contributing hydrology at the time.
• 2007: The hand drawn WPA boundaries were digitized into GIS. No formal metadata or methods documentation from the digitizing process has been located.
• 2025-2026 review: All WPA shapefiles circulating internally were found to be identical. A full comparison of all 18 WPA boundaries against the 1984 report maps shows near perfect agreement, with minor deviations noted (e.g., smoothing at Wawina). The WPA boundaries for Lost Lake match the 1984 report; the SNA boundary there appears to have been expanded after 1984.
Progress:
Complete
Maintenance and Update Frequency:
None Planned
Spatial Extent of Data:
Statewide
Bounding Coordinates:
-97.23
-89.53
49.37
43.5
Place Keywords:
Minnesota, MN
Theme Keywords:
peatland, SNA, water
Theme Keyword Thesaurus:
Access Constraints:
None
Use Constraints:
• Not suitable for parcel level regulatory determinations.
• Suitable for planning, ecological assessments and coarse-scale, landscape-level analysis.
• Consult the 1984 report and legal descriptions for any questions surrounding original proposed and current boundaries appearing in the shapefile (2007).
• Users should be aware of the historical and legislative constraints that shaped these boundaries.
Contact Person Information:
Kelly Randall,
SNA Outreach Coordinator
Minnesota DNR - Ecological and Water Resources
500 Lafayette Rd
Saint Paul,
MN
55155
Phone: 651-259-5070
Email: kelly.randall@state.mn.us
Associated Data Sets:
Section 2: Data Quality
Attribute Accuracy:
The 2007 digitized boundaries closely match the 1984 hand drawn maps.
WPAs are ecologically informed approximations, not hydrologically modeled watersheds.
Some township range section labels in the 1984 report are difficult to read; digitizing reflects best interpretation of the original maps.
Users should consult the 1984 report and the 1984 legal description volume (available at the Minnesota State Law Library) for authoritative boundary documentation.
Logical Consistency:
Completeness:
Horizontal Positional Accuracy:
Lineage:
Origin and Lineage
• 1980-1984: WPA and SNA boundaries were hand drawn on USGS 7.5' quadrangles by Natural Heritage Program staff, led by Norm Aaseng, with input from Barbara Coffin, Jon Almendinger, and University of Minnesota collaborators (e.g., Paul Glaser, Jan Janssen).
• Boundaries were constrained by legislative requirements to follow 40 acre parcel lines (or half forties), resulting in diagonal and triangular shapes. Some ecological boundaries were adjusted to avoid merchantable timber due to internal and industry pressures.
• WPAs were not intended to represent formal watershed boundaries; they reflect best available understanding of contributing hydrology at the time.
• 2007: The hand drawn WPA boundaries were digitized into GIS. No formal metadata or methods documentation from the digitizing process has been located.
• 2025-2026 review: All WPA shapefiles circulating internally were found to be identical. A full comparison of all 18 WPA boundaries against the 1984 report maps shows near perfect agreement, with minor deviations noted (e.g., smoothing at Wawina). The WPA boundaries for Lost Lake match the 1984 report; the SNA boundary there appears to have been expanded after 1984.
Section 3: Spatial Data Organization (not used in this metadata)
Section 4: Coordinate System
Horizontal Coordinate Scheme:
Universal Transverse Mercator
UTM Zone Number:
15
Horizontal Datum:
NAD83
Horizontal Units:
meters
Vertical Datum:
Vertical Units:
Depth Datum:
Depth Units:
Section 5: Attributes
Overview:
Detailed Citation:
Table Detail:
watershed_protection_area| Field Name | Valid Values | Definition | Definition Source |
|---|
| SNA_NAME | - | Unit Name of the associated Scientific and Natural Area | |
| TYPE | - | Peatland Watershed Protection Area | |
| ABBREV | - | Abbreviation | |
| ACRES | - | Acres | |
Section 6: Distribution
Publisher:
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
Publication Date:
03/04/2026
Contact Person Information:
Zeb Thomas,
Spatial Data Systems Administrator
Minnesota DNR - GIS
500 Lafayette Rd
Saint Paul,
MN
55155
Phone: 651-259-5637
Email: zeb.thomas@state.mn.us
Distributor's Data Set Identifier:
bdry_watershed_protection_areas
Ordering Instructions:
Please visit the download page for this dataset on the Minnesota Geospatial Commons website using the web link below (Online Linkage). Online Linkage: I AGREE
to the notice in "Distribution Liability" above. Clicking to agree will either begin the download process, link to a service, or provide more instructions. See "Ordering Instructions" above for details.
Section 7: Metadata Reference
Metadata Date:
03/04/2026
Contact Person Information:
Kelly Randall,
SNA Outreach Coordinator
Minnesota DNR - Ecological and Water Resources
500 Lafayette Rd
Saint Paul,
MN
55155
Phone: 651-259-5070
Email: kelly.randall@state.mn.us
Metadata Standard Name:
Minnesota Geographic Metadata Guidelines
Metadata Standard Version:
1.2
