DULUTH — The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will host First Day Hike events at 12 state parks Thursday, Jan. 1, as part of a nationwide effort to connect people to the outdoors.

As part of the First Day Hikes initiative led by America’s State Parks, a national organization, hikers in all 50 states will kick off the new year with an outdoor hike.

Participating state parks in Minnesota include:

• Blue Mounds State Park, Luverne
• Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park, Preston
• Fort Snelling State Park, St. Paul
• Jay Cooke State Park, Carlton
• Lake Bemidji State Park, Bemidji
• Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park, Soudan
• Maplewood State Park, Pelican Rapids
• Minneopa State Park, Mankato
• Nerstrand Big Woods State Park, Nerstrand
• Tettegouche State Park, Silver Bay
• Whitewater State Park, Altura
• William O’Brien State Park, Marine on St. Croix

In areas with sufficient snow cover, participants are invited to snowshoe. They can bring their own snowshoes or borrow a set from the state park (if available) at no charge.

Find more details about individual hikes on the DNR’s First Day Hikes webpage at

mndnr.gov/firstdayhike.

There is no participation fee, but visitors will need a vehicle permit ($7 per day or $35 for a year) to enter Minnesota state parks and recreation areas. Visitors can save time and purchase permits in advance on the DNR’s permit webpage at

mndnr.gov/permit

or buy a permit in person during open hours at a state park ranger station.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

Minnesota Lt. Gov. and U.S. Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan was seen on a Somali TV station wearing a hijab at a mall, as a widespread fraud scandal implicating some Somalis plagues the state.

“The Somali community is part of the fabric of the state of Minnesota,” Flanagan said, looking into the camera.

For Muslim women, wearing a hijab is typically a sign of obedience to God and worn to show modesty. 

Flanagan has previously stated that she is Catholic and says on her campaign website that her “view on immigration is grounded in her Catholic faith.”

ILHAN OMAR DEFENDS MEALS ACT DESPITE TIES TO MASSIVE MINNESOTA FRAUD SCHEME

The lieutenant governor is challenging two other Democratic candidates in the primary race to fill the seat of outgoing Democratic Sen. Tina Smith. Former Democratic presidential candidate and current Sen. Amy Klobuchar serves as the other senator from the state.

Flanagan’s far-left views also prompted her to wear a “Protect Trans Kids” shirt with a knife on it in August in a viral video telling parents: “When our children tell us who they are, it’s our job as grown-ups to listen and believe them.”

Minnesota Rep. and House Republican Whip Tom Emmer also weighed in on Flanagan wearing a hijab, calling the act a “stunt.”

“Peggy Flanagan and Angie Craig are battling it out in an attempt to win over the far-left radicals in the Twin Cites,” Emmer told Fox News Digital. “Anyone with common sense sees right through this stunt.”

In 2022, federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota began probing a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future, an organization which fueled what the Justice Department said is one of the largest pandemic relief fraud schemes in history.

‘EPICENTER OF FRAUD’: MINNESOTA’S EMPTY STOMACHS, FAKE AUTISM THERAPY AND A SCANDAL THAT COULD TOP $2 BILLION 

Since the investigation began, $250 million in fraudulent claims have led to 78 individuals charged as part of what prosecutors say is a sizable $9 billion fraud scheme. 

Many of the individuals charged come from the Somali community in Minnesota.

More than 400 Minnesota state employees spoke out about the issue, pointing fingers at former vice presidential candidate and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz for negligence in acting on warnings and indicators of fraud and retaliation against whistleblowers who attempted to expose the scandal.

LAWMAKERS PROBE SBA LOANS LINKED TO MINNESOTA’S $9B FRAUD SCANDAL: ‘RECKLESS DECISION MAKING’ 

Walz has been pushed to address the issue on several occasions, admitting in a New York Times interview that the programs may have been overly generous.

“The programs are set up to move the money to people,” Walz said last month. “The programs are set up to improve people’s lives, and in many cases, the criminals find the loopholes.”

Walz set up a new anti-fraud task force as part of a crackdown. “The message here in Minnesota is if you commit a crime, if you commit fraud against public dollars, you are going to go to prison,” he told the Times.

The House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into Walz’s handling of the relief program at the beginning of December. 

“This massive amount of fraud is affecting and impacting every citizen of Minnesota because they’re having to cut services because so much of the money for social programs was wasted and defrauded by this Somali population,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” earlier this week. 

Comer plans to subpoena testimony and records, setting the stage for a potential blockbuster hearing.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP 

President Donald Trump took swift action when the news broke and terminated deportation protections for Somali nationals living in Flanagan’s state “effectively immediately” in November after news of the fraud scandal broke. 

“Send them back to where they came from,” Trump posted to Truth Social. “It’s OVER!”

Fox News Digital reached out to Flanagan and Walz but did not receive responses.

Fox News’ Adriana James-Rodil contributed to this report.