CO Mary Manning (Hovland) helped teach at the academy again this past week. The officer continued to receive reports of bears behaving badly. Some of these calls involved humans leaving garbage, food and bird seed in very accessible locations; some just involved yearling bears trying to find a food source. In one case, a bear was apparently not happy with the food selection inside a cabin, so he left a deposit in the bed of the cabin’s occupant.
CO Don Murray (Two Harbors) worked angling and invasive species enforcement efforts during the week. Salmon and trout fishing success seems to be picking up on Lake Superior with some nice fish caught. Several nuisance bear calls were handled and questions were answered on Lake Superior boating regulations.
CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing) worked a complaint of a Hibbing resident shooting a bear (with two separate shots) within a residential area, claiming the bear was coming toward him two separate times (to include the bear returning after it was already shot or shot at). Witness accounts say otherwise. Charges are pending.
CO Randy Hanzal (Duluth) reports that an angler, who had expired registration on his boat, tried to pretend he didn’t see the CO standing on a dock, waving and yelling at him to come to shore. The problem is the CO could actually hear the conversation he was having with a second person on the boat telling them to just pretend they didn’t see the CO. Eventually the boater had to come to shore, where contact was made. Hanzal took appropriate enforcement action with the operator.
CO Jim Guida (Brainerd) fielded a call from an individual who observed a rare exotic bird in his front yard. The local zoo was called and indicated that they apparently lost the bird during a recent windstorm. Efforts to recover the bird were unsuccessful.
CO Tim Collette (Pequot Lakes) checked anglers on area lakes. Some of the violations he found were no license and an angler attempting to noodle sunfish while swimming (the act of catching fish by hand). No fish had been caught and the angler was getting tired. The CO explained the rules and advised the angler that he might have better luck with a hook and line.
CO Chelsie Leuthardt (Prior Lake) investigated and found the party responsible for dumping a Dumpster’s worth of car parts in a state park. She wants to remind everyone that littering is a crime and the fines associated can be very substantial.
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!
Leave a Reply