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) did a BWCAW patrol at the beginning of the week and found lots of wet campers and paddlers. He followed up on a fire investigation and patrolled border lakes and remote areas. Enforcement action was taken for boating violations.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) checked anglers, boaters and ATV riders this week. The nice weather brought a lot of people outside and on the water. The walleye bite has been steady. Enforcement action was taken for boating and angling violations.
CO Chris Vinton (Perham) reports taking calls for a possession permit for a black squirrel that was killed by a car, a complaint of someone digging lady slippers from the road ditch, and questions about speed limits and distances a boat needs to be from shore.
CO Shane Osborne (Evansville) assisted a DNR employee who specializes in AIS and was investigating a subject transporting a boat lift down the interstate with zebra mussels attached to the boat lift. Upon being contacted, the owner of the vehicle told Osborne that there is no way anybody could see zebra mussels on the boat lift as he was driving down the road at 50 miles per hour. Enforcement action was taken.
CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing) rescued two gray fox pups from the recesses of a house’s egress window well and returned them to the wild.
CO Mike Krauel (St. Cloud) investigated a TIP call stating that there was a poached deer in the river. Krauel determined that the deer had not been poached, but had been hit by a passing train and knocked into the river.
CO Thephong Le (ELCOP) responded to calls that included: snake in a car engine, raccoon followed a lawnmower, and injured hawk.
CO Tom Hemker (Winona) received many calls about turtles trying to get to the other side of the road, and one call from a walker concerned about an injured duck’s quality of life.
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