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 lots of angling and snowmobile activity during the week. The snowmobile trails could use some snow but they are still in fair to good condition. One group of trout anglers ended up on a snowmobile trail with a pickup truck. Lucky for them, they didn’t get buried up to their axles as most in that situation do. Angling, snowmobile, and BWCA violations were encountered.
CO Mary Manning (Grand Marais East) watched as the rain opened up creeks and rivers along snowmobile routes, making some treacherous if not impassable. Groomed sled trails were somewhat better and traffic on them was light. The officer spoke with a party concerned about his neighbor feeding deer near the shore of Lake Superior. While not illegal, feeding does concentrate deer near a major highway increasing vehicle crashes, results in deforestation of the area, and makes it easy for wolves to travel on the icy snow crust to prey on them.
CO Ben Huener (Roseau) assisted the wildlife division with a young moose that got stuck on glare ice in a steep ditch.
CO Anthony Bermel (Babbitt) was loading up his ATV at the Kawishiwi River after checking anglers on Saturday when several kids ran ahead of their dad as they were going back to the parking lot from fishing north of the bridge. The kids decided to go under the bridge and towards the south side, where one young girl broke through the ice and went into the deep water. Officer Bermel grabbed a throw bag and ran towards the girl. The girl’s father got there first and was able to slide up to the edge of the hole and get her out of the water and to their vehicle to warm up.
CO Bret Grundmeier (Hinckley), while checking a very small remote lake, watched from the distance as a lone angler used more fishing poles than allowed. As the CO approached to make contact, the fisherman kicked a jig stick down the ice hole. Unfortunately the bail was open on the rod and the bobber stayed at the surface, while the rod sank, making it difficult to hide the evidence.
CO Dan Malinowski (Fosston) had calls about animals, litter, carcasses dumped in a ditch, shelters on accesses, restoration efforts, and a person wanting to use tires as fire starters.
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