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 anglers in remote areas and on Lake Superior. Fishing has been relatively slow and the trout are still deep on Superior. A few folks have found some ripe blueberries. Equipment issues were attended to and questions about nuisance bears were answered. Once bears find easy human pickings such as bird feeders and garbage, they normally don’t go back to foraging for berries and bugs.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) patrolled ATV trails and forest routes and checked lake accesses. The officer investigated a couple nuisance bear complaints, including one in which the bear had been frequenting a person’s pig pen. The officer also followed up on a theft case from a state park, took a report of an otter that died inside a fish basket tied to a dock, and handled equipment maintenance issues.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) checked anglers on area lakes and Lake Superior. The officer handled nuisance animal complaints and worked on patrol equipment. ATV complaint areas were also worked.
CO Chris Vinton (Perham) received a TIP that a couple had located an alligator on a lake near Ottertail City and that they fed it a bag of chips. No other calls were received.
CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing) met a canoe at a lake access with two individuals preparing to shove off into a lake. The officer wanted to make sure they were licensed; however, one said he was not fishing. Sensing that the individual was going to fish anyway, he was told that it was best not to fish as the officer might return to the lake. The angler did not heed the advice and the officer did return to find the unlicensed angler fishing. No further advice was given, but a citation was.
CO Dan Starr (Onamia) investigated a case of a private citizen having a baby wild swan for sale on the Internet. The swan was seized and enforcement action was taken for illegal possession of migratory waterfowl.
CO Chad Thesing (Albany) took a call of a person who shot a sandhill crane with a vehicle description given. The vehicle was found with a rifle in the front seat and a dead sandhill crane in the bed of the truck. The owner was located and interviewed. Three individuals were found to be involved. It was explained that they were driving around shooting birds out of the window and they happened to see the crane. Four doves were also found dead. Two guns were seized and enforcement action was taken.
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