Although the Cook County News- Herald knows that the majority of sportsmen and women are lawabiding 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) checked trout anglers and snowmobilers during the week. High winds and frigid wind chills kept most people off the lakes and trails earlier in the week. Enforcement action was taken for extra lines, unregistered snowmobiles, and a few unattended lines.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) checked snowmobilers and found good compliance. Anglers, fish houses and cross country skiers were also checked. Slush is problematic on some lakes.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) monitored anglers on area lakes and snowmobile activity. The officer assisted the county with a vehicle rollover and Search & Rescue with an injured person in the woods. Time was also spent on returning phone calls and working on past investigations.
CO Brad Johnson (Silver Bay) reports he received a call from Lakeview Hospital in Two Harbors. Medical staff there had questions regarding a muskrat bite. A local man had been bitten on the hand by the muskrat. He had been snowmobiling in the Superior National Forest northeast of Finland.
CO Shane Osborne (Evansville) made numerous contacts with snowmobilers who had aftermarket exhaust which made the machines quite loud. When one subject was asked why he put the loud exhaust on he said, “I like to make noise.” Proper paperwork was issued for the violation.
CO Duke Broughten (Longville) was called out to assist Cass County Sheriff ’s Office with a snowmobiler who had gone missing around 2:30 a.m. By the time officers were called the snowmobiler had been missing for a couple of hours. After several hours of searching, the snowmobiler was located around 8 a.m., miles away from her cabin. The snowmobiler had gone out on a lake and was disoriented by the fog, the machine ran out of gas, and the operator had walked several miles through the night until reaching a fuel station. Thankfully the operator was not seriously hurt.
CO Anthony Bermel (Ely) worked a busy week of snowmobile enforcement. One speeder was stopped on President’s Day for going 77 mph. When asked if he could even see due to the constant build-up of ice on the helmet visors that day, he stated, “Not really.”
CO Jayson Hansen (Bigfork) handled a call of a bobcat that wouldn’t leave a residence; they found it with a face full of porcupine quills. Officers captured the bobcat, removed the porcupine quills, and removed it from the location.
CO Scott Staples (Carlton) finished up a litter case with a citation being issued after the suspect stated that he was just storing his garbage in the ditch for a little while and was going to come back and get it. The ditch just happened to be seven miles from his house.
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