Although the Cook County News-Herald knows that the majority of sportsmen and women are law-abiding folks, there are a few that run afoul of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Conservation Officers. Periodically, the DNR provides a report of some of the miscreants the Conservation Officers (CO) have encountered. The News-Herald shares these stories as a reminder to all to be safe and to follow the rules!
CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) worked with fellow officers checking snowmobilers and anglers. Wicked wind chills kept many people indoors so the trails and lakes were pretty scarce of activity. Snowmobilers were encountered without proper display of current registration or trail stickers. Another snowmobiler was encountered without a snowmobile safety certificate. Some anglers were found not to have their licenses in possession.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) checked remote trout lakes in Cook and Lake counties. The bite was slow during the cold weather. The officer also worked ski trails and snowmobile trails
CO Marty Stage (Ely) worked snowmobile and fishing enforcement. Fishing has been slow and the cold weather has kept a lot of things from happening. One fisherman had left his permanent fish house out on the lake without proper ID, but the officer kept missing him at the shelter. Late one night, as the officer was heading home by snowmobile, he saw that the fisherman happened to be at the house so he went over to visit about the violation. As he approached the house, he couldn’t help but observe the fisherman feverishly trying to pull up his extra line. An extra ticket was issued to cover the extra violation.
CO Matt Miller (Lake Superior Marine Unit) checked ice anglers and snowmobilers on a very cold North Shore weekend. Several snowmobilers were found not stopping for posted road crossings where logging trucks are hauling their loads. Attention to all signs keeps trail users having a fun and safe ride.
CO Brandon McGaw (Mora) checked anglers during the week. Time was spent investigating a wanton waste of northern pike on Pomroy Lake. A large group of wheel houses were seen on the northern end of the lake. The next day around 30 fish were left on the lake.
CO Jeff Denz (Willmar) received a number of calls on car-kill owls during the week.
CO Scott Fritz (LaCrescent) followed up on a complaint where an individual unlawfully possessed rattlesnake rattles.
CO Brice Vollbrecht (Bemidji) reports that follow-up was conducted on a complaint of a medicine stick which had an eagle foot attached to it. The medicine stick was for sale at a local store. It was seized and will be turned over to a federal agent.
CO Paul Nelson (Elbow Lake) was called to investigate a report of a mink killing chickens.
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