Dog park users mobilize to save Minnehaha off-leash area
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Christine Tuhy pets her dog Bear while her daughter plays in a tree. Photo: Nick Halter/Axios
Many of the people who walk the wooded trails and beaches of the Minnehaha dog park are rallying in hopes of halting a scheduled vote Wednesday at a Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board meeting to close the popular off-leash area.
Why it matters: The vote could determine the future of one of Minneapolis' most popular dog parks while testing how much public input should shape decisions about culturally significant land.
State of play: Opposition is growing. During a recent walk through the park, Minneapolis resident Carter Casmaer stopped dog owners to gather signatures for a petition that now has nearly 1,400 supporters.
What they're saying: Casmaer, a regular at the park who has built a community with other owners, called the closure resolution "deeply unpopular" among many residents who support the park system through their taxes.
- Board staff confirmed they did not notify dog park users of a resolution via email or through in-person engagement in the parking lot.
- "They're just trying to run roughshod over the opinions of a huge group and largely characterize their interest as illegitimate, or at worst, racist or colonialist," he said.
Flashback: The Minnehaha off-leash area has been Minneapolis' most popular dog park for more than 30 years, attracting throngs of people who like the trails, water and ample space.
- But Native leaders and park officials say recent archaeological research has revealed the area's cultural significance to the Dakota people is greater than previously understood, prompting calls to close the off-leash area.
- A resolution by Commissioner Jason Garcia calls for the dog park to be shut down by the end of the year and directs parks staff to find a new site for a dog park.
- Garcia has said dogs would still be allowed on leashes.
Maggie Lorenz, executive director of the Dakota environmental nonprofit Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi, told WCCO that there was a Dakota concentration camp in the area in the winter of 1862-1863. Hundreds died of disease at Pike Island.
- "A lot of relatives (and) ancestors died over that winter, and because of that, there were a lot of unmarked graves and burials around that area, and so it's a really tragic part of our history," she said.
Zoom in: Park Board commissioners have cited a 2025 archeological assessment that they say makes it clear human remains are in the park.
- Dog park users point out that the heavily redacted report contains no statement on whether there are burials in the dog park itself.
- The Park Board has cited the Minnesota Private Cemeteries Act, which is meant to keep the location of gravesites private. Dog park supporter and attorney Eric Barstad obtained some of the report through a data practices request.
- He told Axios that the Park Board should be able to release something to substantiate its claims that there are human remains on the 6-acre site that "wouldn't be of use to actual grave robbers."
Casandra Olson, a member of the Upper Sioux Community, wrote a letter to Park Board President Tom Olsen, saying that because the board hasn't verified the presence of human remains, the lack of accuracy makes it "more difficult to have an honest conversation about the actual facts."
- Olsen said in a social media post he doesn't want to give anyone false hope; "we have the information needed to make a decision."
On a recent humid day in the wooded trails, users said they're deeply connected to the park and some said they consider it sacred as well.
- Several, including Casmaer, said they haul out bags of trash, especially after spring floods wash debris into the park. During a one-hour walk, there was no visible pet waste on the ground, which he says speaks to the respect that canine owners have for the land.
- He and other dog park users told me they're worried that shutting the dog park down will lead to illegal camping and parties, since there will be fewer people there to watch over it.
Christine Tuhy was in the park with her dog and her 12-year-old daughter, whom she homeschools. They come twice a week in warm months to learn about nature.
- "She embodies the principles of sacred land," Tuhy said of her daughter. "She connects with the land ... She's in constant communion with nature here."
What we're watching: While most commissioners have expressed support for a quick shutdown of the dog park, Cathy Abene (District 6) introduced an amendment to delay the closure, conduct more public engagement and plan for a new location.
- The amendment and resolution will get hearings Wednesday night.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a link to the correct petition to save the dog park, which had about 1,400 signatures as of Tuesday, not 4,000.