Dogs must be on on leash at Minneapolis' Minnehaha Regional Park starting in December

Dog owners have until late December to let their pets go off leash at the dog park in Minneapolis' Minnehaha Regional Park.

The park, which provided dogs and owners access to the Mississippi River for more than 30 years, will now require leashes starting on Dec. 21., the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board announced Wednesday.

In June, the park board determined an off-leash dog park is not compatible with the area, citing its "deep cultural, spiritual, historical and archaeological significance to Dakota people and other Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities."

"I think we have an opportunity to become a model for how to rectify centuries of wrongdoing," Maggie Lorenz, with the Wakan Tiki Center, told WCCO in June.

The board said it's trying to identify other off-leash opportunities in the park system.