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 Mary Manning (Hovland) attended a training and planning meeting for Use of Force instructors at Camp Ripley. On the return trip from a meeting in Sandstone, the officer located an unpermitted burn. Despite being able to obtain and activate a permit less than one-half mile from his location or right on site from his smart phone, the property owner failed to do so before lighting a rather sizable pile of stumps and brush. Manning also taught an introduction to guns class for women and assisted Cook County Sheriff ’s Office with a call about a suicidal man.
CO Tim Gray (Bagley) took care of an injured turtle and looked for a tangled loon, but was unable to locate it.
CO William Landmark (Moorhead) responded to a report of an injured owl near a roadway and upon investigation it was discovered to be a juvenile barred owl that had fallen from a nest. Phone calls from the public included nuisance rabbits in the garden, abandoned ducklings, and a nuisance wolf.
CO Jeff Halverson (Staples) worked multiple bear complaints. A cub was rescued by a local cowboy after mom was killed on the highway. The cowboy roped the cub out of a tree and the little fellow named “Fred” was brought to the Garrison Vet Clinic.
CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing) came upon a 4 year-old and her grandmother fishing; however, they were not going to catch anything on the bait being used. The officer scrounged up a couple night crawlers from under a log and helped the young girl catch the first fish of her lifetime, followed by a couple others.
When asked to see a fishing license, an angler who was 16 said she was 15. When asked what her date of birth was, her brain wasn’t fast enough to do the math and she was 16, requiring a license. The girl then said she had an angling license, but didn’t have it with her and that her dad always told her to never go fishing without it. After all that, when the officer looked it up, she actually had a fishing license.
CO Chad Thesing (Albany) spent time on injured animals including a deer walking around with an arrow in its head and a loon with a fishing lure in its mouth.
Leave a Reply