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) checked bear baits, ATV riders and anglers. Time was spent working at the Pigeon River Port of Entry with area officers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Enforcement action was taken for AIS and fish transportation violations.
CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) dealt with waters and invasive species violations during the week. Bear baiters, and their ATV usage, were checked.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) helped with and attended annual training in firearms, defensive tactics, First Aid and evidence examination at Camp Ripley. She spent time in the woods checking bear bait stations and state forest campgrounds. Manning also worked a special detail at the Grand Portage Port of Entry with other COs, K9s, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents to inspect bears, fish and watercraft being brought into the state. Upon being checked, one gentleman declared, “I remember you! And I remembered to pull my drain plug this time!”
CO Keith Olson (Lake Superior Marine Unit) worked Lake Superior in the Grand Marais area— catches of salmon are showing up in the creels. Surface temperatures are in the low 60s. Olson also worked a detail at the Grand Portage Port of Entry over the weekend, resulting in overlimits of fish and big-game violations.
CO Sean Williams (Ely) reports the people responsible for a fire on Bear Island Lake came forward. They had started a campfire late in the day and believed they had put it out, but the fire had travelled through the peat and rekindled.
CO Tom Hemker (Winona) reports spending time on the river checking fishing and boating activity. He talked to a boater who was floating down the main channel in a small blow-up raft with four full-size dogs. The boater would not give his name to officers and eventually jumped into the river with his dogs and fled to an island. It was determined the boater had a felony warrant; he was eventually found by the Winona County Sheriff ’s Office and will be charged.
CO Scott Fitzgerald (CCSRA) and others seized a wild deer that someone had been raising in his home since it was a fawn without a permit. The deer was transported to the Wild and Free Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.
Contact local DNR Conservation Officers to report violations or ask questions:
Thomas Wahlstrom
218-370-0244
Darin Fagerman
218-370-1717
Mary Manning
218-475-0121
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