MINNEAPOLIS — A new, modernized licensing system for outdoor recreation in Minnesota is expected to phase in this spring, a top Department of Natural Resources administrator said.

The upgraded system, which was originally planned for a 2025 start, will include a new mobile app. The system will initially allow for the purchase of hunting and fishing licenses, said Kelly Straka, DNR fish and wildlife division director. Registrations for watercraft and recreational vehicles will be added to the new platform sometime later this year.

An exact date for the spring launch isn’t certain yet. The upgrades are still being tested for reliability, user experience and security, Straka said. Minnesota’s fishing opener is May 9.

Also, there are hundreds of license agents, including bait shops and outdoors shops, and deputy registrars across Minnesota that need to be brought up to speed.

One consideration, too, is assuring that DNR staff have access to data on the back end. Some DNR employees rely on hunter harvest information, for example, to monitor deer permit area pressure and to help set annual regulations.

“It’s making sure all the pieces fit,” Straka added. “And that is a lot of testing.”

In 2024, there were more than 2.7 million licenses purchased across all outdoor activities in Minnesota. The volume reflects Minnesotans’ passion for the outdoors, Straka said, and also the “complexity” that has slowed the project’s completion.

Working through mandated personal information security is another one of the challenges.

“I think that we have learned a lot along the way that has necessitated we spend more time on this, to dive deeper into issues, to make sure we’re in compliance with every statute, every rule,” Straka said.

The system is expected to hold as many as 400 DNR license products when it is fully functional. The state park reservation system is unaffected.

The launch of the upgrades are overdue. The DNR missed an early March 2025 deadline for the $3.5 million project, and then said it would roll out before 2026. The agency has been working on revamping its licensing system since 2021 after a survey showed Minnesotans want a modern platform, such as a mobile application, to hold their licenses and permits.

Straka told the Minnesota Star Tribune last year that it was her decision to pause the launch in 2025 because the system wasn’t ready.

Dave Olfelt, Straka’s predecessor, retired from the fish and wildlife division job in 2024 but stayed on part-time to manage the licensing system project “because he was so heavily involved,” Straka said last week. Olfelt then fully retired last May, and a new project manager came aboard.

“I think we’ve had enough changes,” she added.

The agency’s project partners are PayIt, which has produced similar license systems for Michigan and Arkansas, among other states, and Minnesota IT Services, which manages the state’s information technology. PayIt, based in Kansas City, Mo., will manage the modernized system.

Meanwhile, the state legislative auditor is reviewing the electronic licensing system (ELS) project and will release its report in late March.

“We conducted an IT performance audit of [the] ELS due to concerns regarding the delayed implementation of the system,” deputy legislative auditor Lori Leysen said in an email.

Unlike a financial review, this audit focuses on the DNR’s process. Still, “an element of cost can be part of any one of our audits,” she added.

The DNR hasn’t paid PayIt yet for its work, Straka said. When the system goes live, the company will get paid per transaction: 75 cents for hunting and fishing licenses and $1.24 for recreational vehicle titling and registration.

The new app will allow users “to take the system into the field, even in areas without connectivity,” wrote Chris Willard, PayIt general manager of outdoors, in an email to the Star Tribune. They’ll be able to register their harvest afield electronically, for example, and have the action process once they reconnect to Wi-Fi.

Users can also access maps and regulations and, eventually, sign up for safety training classes and keep an archive of certificates.

Straka stressed that nondigital users will still be able to buy licenses in person at a vendor and print them to carry for validation.

Hunters who don’t use the app “will use plain paper instead of a durable tag — either printed at home or by a license agent,” the DNR explained on its FAQ page.

Minnesota’s licensing season begins March 1.

“Go ahead and buy your fishing license for [this] year,” Straka said. “If you want to wait a bit for the new system, you’ll be able to do that, too.”

The DNR will announce a pause in license-buying before the upgrades launch — allowing a window to migrate data from the current system to the new structure.

“We really want to get this across the finish line, get it out to users,” she said.

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