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 Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) reports a week of tough sledding as slush conditions were bad. A cold spell on Sunday made things better. Most people sledded through it okay with only a couple reports of the slush monster getting a couple of snowmobiles. Fishing was very good overall with some nice sized lake trout caught during the week. Enforcement action was taken for snowmobile registration violations.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) continued to get reports of sick or mangy wolves in the Grand Marais and Hovland areas. The officer also checked area lakes and anglers; warm weather and rain have made for more slush and difficult travel. The officer also worked state and GIA snowmobile trails, which generally had good snow amounts, but were hit hard by warm temps and heavy use.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) spent time monitoring snowmobile trails. Trails were busy with snowmobilers enjoying the warm weather. Fishermen were also checked on remote trout lakes. Enforcement action was taken for angling and snowmobile violations.
CO Gary Forsberg (Pelican Rapids) received a report of a dead eagle in the ditch, which turned out to be a road-kill turkey.
CO Leah Weyandt (Mound) explored a possible wanton waste case. After interviews it was determined an angler’s daughter hid fish from her father by creating a “dance line of fish” in the snowbank outside of a neighboring ice house. Weyandt also looked into a possible fawn deer being kept as a pet; that investigation is ongoing.
CO Dustin Miller (Windom) located an ice house that had been left unattended for several days on a local lake. A check on this house resulted in the CO being able to determine there were multiple lines left set for angling with nobody present in the house. The suspected angler was contacted and thought it was sufficient to go out and check his lines every day or two. Education was provided to the angler regarding unattended lines and license issues with their house, and enforcement action was taken
CO Tyler Quandt (Red Wing) reports that on Friday the high winds blew a portable ice house across the bay in Red Wing and into the open water, where the house proceeded to sink. By the end of the day on Saturday almost all permanent ice houses in the area had been removed from the ice.
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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