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) spent the week checking anglers and a few snowmobilers. He followed up on past investigations and responded to wildlife calls.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) patrolled area lakes and accesses; anglers are urged to continue to check ice conditions frequently when venturing out. She also checked snowmobile trails and forest roads; snow cover remains thin to absent. A few people attempting to drive street vehicles on unplowed forest roads discovered that a plowed road would have been a better option as unseen ice under the snow caused some problems. Manning also again assisted DNR Wildlife staff with fur registration and followed up on deer registration issues.
CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) did some remote patrols by snowmobile during the week. There were a few ice anglers out but it was pretty quiet overall. A few were also out riding snowmobiles in the backcountry.
CO Tricia Plautz (Henning) worked with area wildlife officials in verifying a cougar sighting near Bertha on a trail camera. Plautz also later in the week assisted area wildlife officers in a case where a cougar was hit on the roadway near Nimrod.
CO Shane Zavodnik (International Falls) seized more than 20 walleyes within a five-hour span of checking anglers, many of whom were measuring their fish incorrectly or did not know the specific regulations on the lake.
CO John Slatinski (Ray) advised a person with concerns that his farm animals were being alarmed by a neighbor operating a snowmobile with loud exhaust near the fence line.
CO Tim Collette (Brainerd) while checking an adult father and son angling, saw there were two tip-ups outside the portable fish house, but only one line down in the house, even though there were two holes. When asked for licenses, the father said he wasn’t fishing. When noted that the son had an extra line, the father said that was the case. The son replied tersely that the father had indeed been fishing and he could take his own ticket.
CO Rick Reller (Buffalo) reports that an ice house and ATV went through Clearwater Lake. Nobody was injured.
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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