DNR to Appeal Ruling Against Renaming of Minneapolis Lake

ST. PAUL (AP) -- The Department of Natural Resources says it will appeal a court ruling that it lacked the power to change the name of Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis to its original Dakota name, Bde Maka Ska.

The DNR says it will file its appeal with the Minnesota Supreme Court by May 29. Commissioner Sarah Strommen said Wednesday that she's concerned about the implications of this week's Court of Appeals ruling for her agency's ability to work with counties to eliminate offensive or derogatory names.

The DNR last year granted a request from Hennepin County to drop the name of pro-slavery Southerner and former Vice President John Calhoun. But the appeals court said that because the lake had been called Calhoun for more than 40 years, only the Legislature could change it.