Waterfowl Production Areas · Minnesota state guide

Minnesota Waterfowl Production Areas

Minnesota has 967 named WPAs totaling 226,754 acres across 47 counties. Each tract below links to a satellite map, GPS coordinates, directions and shooting-hour tables.

967WPAs
227Kacres
47counties
234average acres

Map of Minnesota WPAs

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Refuge with open unitsNo open unitsWPANational Wildlife Refuge Tip: switch to Satellite or USGS Topo in the layer menu · click the map for GPS coordinates

About Minnesota's Waterfowl Production Areas

Waterfowl Production Areas are federally owned wetlands and grasslands bought mostly with Federal Duck Stamp revenue and managed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wetland management districts. Unlike most National Wildlife Refuges, WPAs are generally open to hunting, fishing and trapping under Minnesota state regulations, with a few federal rules on top — walk-in access only, no camping and, in many districts, nontoxic shot for all shotgun hunting. Land next to a WPA is almost always private, and conservation easements are private land too.

In Minnesota, WPAs are managed by 8 offices: Morris Wetland Management District (251 WPAs), Fergus Falls Wetland Management District (226 WPAs), Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District (186 WPAs), Litchfield Wetland Management District (155 WPAs), Windom Wetland Management District (81 WPAs), Minnesota Valley Wetland Management District (43 WPAs), Big Stone Wetland Management District (24 WPAs), Madison Wetland Management District (1 WPA).

WPA acres by county

Largest WPAs in Minnesota

WPACountyAcresNearest town
Nelson Prairie WPAMahnomen County2,08245 mi S of Thief River Falls
Winger WPAPolk County1,75838 mi S of Thief River Falls
Robin Hood WPATraverse County1,71138 mi W of Morris
Ridgeway WPAOtter Tail County1,6036.8 mi W of Fergus Falls
Hellicksen Prairie WPABecker County1,38521 mi NW of Detroit Lakes
Erskine Complex WPAPolk County1,34832 mi S of Thief River Falls
Meadows WPAWilkin County1,30513 mi N of Wahpeton
Tyrone Flats WPAMeeker County1,28111 mi N of Litchfield
Pelican Lake WPAWright County1,26429 mi NW of Minneapolis
Nicholson WPAOtter Tail County1,2348.2 mi SE of Fergus Falls

New to WPAs? Read Waterfowl Production Areas explained, upland hunting on WPAs and public-land duck hunting tactics.

All Minnesota WPAs by county

Aitkin County 1 WPAs · 73 acres

Becker County 57 WPAs · 14,416 acres

Big Stone County 58 WPAs · 12,670 acres

Blue Earth County 17 WPAs · 4,167 acres

Brown County 2 WPAs · 190 acres

Carver County 3 WPAs · 523 acres

Chippewa County 2 WPAs · 360 acres

Clay County 59 WPAs · 13,546 acres

Cottonwood County 14 WPAs · 3,751 acres

Dakota County 1 WPAs · 74 acres

Douglas County 57 WPAs · 11,702 acres

Faribault County 7 WPAs · 1,019 acres

Freeborn County 10 WPAs · 2,788 acres

Grant County 55 WPAs · 11,402 acres

Jackson County 26 WPAs · 5,465 acres

Kandiyohi County 59 WPAs · 14,742 acres

Lac qui Parle County 20 WPAs · 4,673 acres

Le Sueur County 4 WPAs · 418 acres

Lincoln County 17 WPAs · 2,256 acres

Lyon County 8 WPAs · 2,305 acres

Mahnomen County 25 WPAs · 7,165 acres

Marshall County 1 WPAs · 527 acres

Martin County 3 WPAs · 544 acres

McLeod County 10 WPAs · 2,085 acres

Meeker County 17 WPAs · 5,413 acres

Mower County 2 WPAs · 142 acres

Murray County 11 WPAs · 3,064 acres

Nobles County 5 WPAs · 744 acres

Norman County 5 WPAs · 1,577 acres

Otter Tail County 107 WPAs · 24,311 acres

Polk County 40 WPAs · 13,420 acres

Pope County 66 WPAs · 14,258 acres

Renville County 7 WPAs · 1,934 acres

Rice County 3 WPAs · 489 acres

Scott County 1 WPAs · 40 acres

Sibley County 7 WPAs · 1,722 acres

Stearns County 43 WPAs · 10,174 acres

Steele County 4 WPAs · 881 acres

Stevens County 57 WPAs · 10,242 acres

Swift County 30 WPAs · 8,737 acres

Todd County 6 WPAs · 804 acres

Traverse County 12 WPAs · 4,600 acres

Waseca County 3 WPAs · 302 acres

Watonwan County 1 WPAs · 55 acres

Wilkin County 6 WPAs · 2,491 acres

Wright County 13 WPAs · 3,399 acres

Yellow Medicine County 5 WPAs · 1,092 acres