CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) checked anglers, boaters and ATV riders. He assisted the county with a drowning incident in the BWCA. Enforcement action was taken for boating, speeding and PWC violations.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) investigated an ATV damage to property case – an ATV operator intentionally drove over a brush berm to tear up a hillside and numerous trees recently planted there. Anyone with information is asked to call the TIP line. Manning attended training in Duluth and patrolled forest roads, lakes and area campgrounds. She also conducted a commercial minnow retailer inspection and followed up on angling issues.
WREO Mike Scott conducted a site visit with Cook County LGU on a WCA and PW violation on Devil Track Lake. CO David Schottenbauer (Silver Bay) worked area anglers and ATV activity. Schottenbauer also took a call from Tettegouche State Park of an injured turtle that was found. He advised the staff and visitors to release the turtle and let nature take its course.
CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing) observed two off-highway motorcycles illegally operating down a paved county road. At highway speed, one of the pair decided to pop a wheelie for a couple hundred yards and did so successfully. Neither of the OHMs had registration. Bozovsky received no good explanation for the antics and they were cited.
CO Matt Frericks (Virginia) was involved in evicting a person from a house that was on state land. The house had been there since the 1940s and the person evicted had moved in and was squatting on the property after the previous owner had died.
Frericks also handled a TIP call regarding some illegally killed swans on Lake of the Woods. He spoke with the caller, who advised he was concerned that he was going to be blamed for the violation. When Frericks asked the caller how he learned of the violation, the caller told him the actual people (one of whom was Dog the Bounty Hunter) who committed the violation told him telepathically. When asked why they wanted to blame him for the violation, the caller told Frericks that he had a will that said he was the King of Scotland and the violators didn’t want him to have it.
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!
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