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) took calls on a loon stuck in a water-filled gravel pit, vehicles stored near a public lake access and bears behaving hungrily. The officer also followed up on cases from last month’s work detail in the BWCA. Manning was pleased to hear that the group of young men who packed in about 100 cans of beer and soda plus a couple glass bottles of alcohol also packed the containers out, thereby avoiding a litter ticket in addition to the illegal containers in the BWCA ticket they already earned.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) spent the week checking anglers on Superior, inland lakes and monitored ATV riders. The officer worked a Great Lakes Task Force shift with Officer Williams on Lake Superior. The weather this past week was nice for fishing on the big lake, but the salmon bite has been slow. Some nice lakers were seen in the bag. Enforcement action was taken for extra lines, unlawfully possessing steelhead, ATV and OHM violations.
CO Randy Hanzal (Duluth) assisted after a moose was hit and killed by a train. It was recovered and its carcass was handed off to biologists for study.
CO Joyce Kuske (Little Falls) followed up on a call of a large amount of black smoke coming from a farmyard. It was found that the person was burning metal, windows, rubber hoses and a hot water heater. Enforcement action was taken.
CO Paul Kuske (Pierz) found three 12-year-olds operating PWCs in a careless manner, and a parent and owner of the PWCs sat on shore watching. When contacted by Kuske the person stated he knew it was illegal for them to operate, but the kids wanted to ride. A citation was issued to the parent for allowing illegal operation.
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