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 Mary Manning (Hovland) patrolled snowmobile trails and unplowed forest roads checking sledders where compliance was generally good and the officer continued to get questions on the change to trail sticker regulations. Few anglers were out and fishing was slow. One group was surprised to learn that the fairly small “rainbows” they had were in fact lake trout. Manning also attended training in St. Paul and along the way shuttled a pair of injured owls to the Raptor Center. Enforcement action was taken for no trout stamp and failure to display snowmobile registration.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) monitored snowmobile and cross country ski trails. The trails are in great shape. The officer checked anglers on area trout lakes with few fish in the bag. Several calls relating to BWCA use and wildlife calls were handled.
CO Anthony Bermel (Ely) clocked one snowmobiler at 90 mph on the trail who commented that the trail groomers shouldn’t do such a nice job.
CO Phil Seefeldt (Moorhead) received several reports of snowmobiles chasing coyotes and fox. One individual was cited after several people observed him chase the fox for several minutes, then run it over with his snowmobile.
CO Jeff Halverson (Staples), while patrolling the trail on snowmobile, observed a deputy sheriff who was in hot foot pursuit after a fleeing individual who had just jumped out the back bathroom window of his residence. Using the snowmobile on the trail, the officers were successful in tracking the suspect about a half-mile in the snow. Being in the right place at the right time worked out and the suspect was arrested for having warrants and fleeing police officers.
CO Randy Posner (Brainerd) assisted a couple of snowmobilers who were stuck in the deep snow. One of the operators went through a barbed wire fence and the other got stuck when he tried to climb a large snow bank.
CO Nikki Shoutz (Pine River) responded to a call of a snowmobile that started on fire on a local lake. A married couple was riding when the female operator smelled burning plastic, turned her sled off and got off her snowmobile. Although the CO responded within 15 minutes, the snowmobile was completely gone and unrecognizable as a snowmobile.
CO Bret Grundmeier (Hinckley) took a complaint of a homeowner being attacked by a fisher. The caller stated a fisher attempted to get at some dog food, in his garage, through the dog’s access door. The fisher then approached the front porch and aggressively came after him and his dog. The caller then grabbed a nearby ski pole and broke it while defending himself against the animal. The fisher continued to attack and was eventually subdued with a wooden cane. The adult male fisher was eventually dispatched and collected by the officer.
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