Brad Dokken

Brad Dokken, the Grand Forks Herald’s longtime outdoors editor, turned the page on a remarkable 40-year career with the newspaper when he retired on Dec. 4, 2025. It concluded a scope of service that included his role as a member of the Herald team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its work during and after the Flood of 1997. As the Herald’s outdoors editor, he had also been at the forefront in the coverage of several threats to the outdoors, including the increase in the prevalence of aquatic invasive species, such as zebra mussels, as well as diseases, such as chronic wasting disease in deer. A native of Roseau, Minnesota, Dokken grew up surrounded by nature. The environment laid the foundation for a lifetime appreciation of hunting, fishing, snowmobiling and other outdoor activities. Dokken’s route to helming the Herald’s weekly Northland Outdoors section can be traced to his years at Bemidji State University, where — to fulfill a general education requirement — he took a journalism class and worked for the student newspaper, where he found he liked the excitement of the newsroom.

Read more in the Grand Forks Herald article by clicking here.