Cook County News Herald

Conservation Officer Tales




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 Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) monitored snowmobiles trails and area lakes. Some nice trout were seen on the ice and a few groups went home with their limits. Snowmobile trails were extremely busy over the weekend. Enforcement action was taken for angling, snowmobile and alcohol violations.

CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) reports stopping a pickup truck driving with only emergency flashers after dark on the Gunflint Trail. The man driving was intoxicated and was turned over to a State Trooper. He was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Ice conditions continue to improve while the snowmobile trails are in need of some snowfall. The trout fishing was fantastic or slow depending on who you talked to. Enforcement action was taken for several snowmobile registration violations.

CO Mary Manning (Hovland) patrolled state and Grant-in-Aid snowmobile trails. Trail conditions varied with snow depths and rider volume. Trails were busy with riders and the officer heard more than one person comment that they had just gotten a new “wrap” for their sled and did not have time to get their registration numbers back on. This is like painting your car and forgetting to put the plates back on before hitting the highway.

After nearly colliding with the officer on her side of the trail, one rider wanted to argue that because everyone else had ridden the inside of that corner he was just riding “where the trail was”…neglecting the half of the trail he should actually have been on. Another reminder to make everyone’s ride safer: please slow down in the corners and stay to the right on the trails.

CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing) stopped a snowmobiler who was operating illegally and with nine-year expired registration. He spotted the officer approaching and left the scene, leaving his girlfriend in the road ditch. The officer easily found the operator in a crowd of other snowmobilers, as he had not been wearing a helmet. He hid his snowmobile in the nearby swamp as he figured he was in trouble. He was correct and was cited.

CO Scott Staples (Carlton) responded to a call of a fish house that burned up on an area lake. A faulty valve on a propane heater is suspected of causing the fire, which burned the new fish house completely up. The owner of the house was reminded that, “A bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at work.” This time, he disagreed.

Contact local DNR
Conservation Officers to report
violations or ask questions:
Thomas Wahlstrom 218-370-0244
Darin Fagerman 218-387-9751
Mary Manning 218-475-0121



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