DNR removes parking lot on east side of Lake Bemidji near Mississippi River

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Sept. 18, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

The removal of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources parking lot adjacent to Lakeside Drive Northeast on the east side of Lake Bemidji went as "well as it could," a DNR official said this week.

On Monday, the DNR removed the parking lot that had room for only a handful of cars because private property owners near it had complained about people overloading the parking lot and parking on private property.

To remedy the situation, the DNR installed posts with signs warning parking is no longer allowed there and cement parking bumpers that block access to the parking lot.

"We've had half a dozen calls come into the office (concerning the removal of the lot)," Tony Walzer, of the DNR's Trails and Waterways Division, said Wednesday. "They called and voiced concern over what we did."

But Walzer said after he explained the "blatant disregard for private property" that was taking place, most callers understood the need to remove the lot.

Because there were few spaces in the lot, people would overload the lot, park on private property, on road right-of-ways and in nearby ditches.

Over the recent Labor Day weekend, the DNR received a number of complaints about illegal parking, and even the Bemidji Police Department was called and ticketed some of the cars.

"It just goes to show that if a person thinks they can get away with something, they will do it," Walzer said.

He said he encourages those looking for a parking spot to consider Lake Bemidji State Park on the northern end of Lake Bemidji.

From there, people have access to the trails; their car will be secure; they won't receive a ticket; and the park has amenities such as toilets and information booths.

He said the DNR may install another parking lot farther north on the trail where it owns some land, but not until it can develop the trail that far.