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) reports that the bugs are now finally subsiding with the nicer weather and less rain. Now is the time to get out and make up for the cooler, wet summer we’ve been having. Designated trout lakes have remained relatively empty during the summer, but those who’ve made the effort have had the lakes all to themselves. The small walleye lakes have been producing some nice fish. The CO attended a graduation ceremony for 10 new conservation officers at Camp Ripley.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) participated in a work detail in the BWCA. Several groups checked were surprised to be contacted by conservation officers and to hear that we, too, had crossed “that really long portage” to get to their location. The officer patrolled inland lakes and worked Lake Superior with CO Wahlstrom and Lt. Sherack. Bear complaints are becoming more numerous and folks should be sure to clean up and remove all garbage and bird feeders – even during the day. Manning also checked anglers and boaters returning to the U.S. from Canadian fishing trips. A few anglers were educated on personal responsibility related to licenses and possession limits and several boat owners learned about transport laws related to invasive species and boats.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) spent the week checking anglers and boaters on inland lakes and Lake Superior. Wahlstrom worked with the new Silver Bay officer during the Salmon Classic and worked an AIS detail. The officer worked a federal boat and water detail on Lake Superior with Officer Manning and Lt. Sherack.
CO Don Murray (Two Harbors) received several calls of an emu running around the county, as area residents were surprised to see a large prehistoric-looking bird running around. The bird was reportedly captured and returned to the owner.
CO Chris Vinton (Perham) was asked to inspect some horses that may have been attacked by an animal. The injuries didn’t look consistent with animal attack and the owners said they’d try and locate some trail cameras in an attempt to uncover the source.
CO Gary Sommers (Walker) received a complaint of a car driving on a non-motorized state trail. The driver of the car was stopped by bicyclists who took a photo of the car including the license number. In talking with the driver of the car, he said he was training for a marathon and had stashed water bottles along the trail, and when he was done he would drive down the trail with his car to pick up the discarded bottles.
CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing) was kept busy with various trespass issues. There were 16 violations of operating a motor vehicle on a state trail (due to a state highway bridge project causing shortcut detours), “plain old” trespass, and OHV trespass. Simply obeying signs would have saved the officer and the violators a lot of hassle. One of the individuals also provided the officer her sister’s driver’s license as her license was revoked, which added to her three other violations.
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