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 angling and snowmobile activity. Fishing remains slow while the trails are very busy with sleds. Enforcement action was taken for snowmobile violations.
CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) participated in a work detail over the busy holiday weekend. The detail concentrated on angling and snowmobile activity.
CO David Schottenbauer (Silver Bay) spent the week and weekend enforcing snowmobile rules. Many snowmobilers were encountered stuck as they tried to leave groomed trails. Most came away from their troubles with only hurt pride.
CO Keith Olson (Lake Superior Marine Unit) spent the week checking ice anglers on Lake Superior. The anglers are venturing farther and farther out; just remember to have an action plan in the event the ice becomes unstable.
CO Dustie Speldrich (Willow River) fielded a complaint that came in of deer stealing a horse’s grain. According to the reporting party, a herd of deer would aggressively chase the lone horse away while they ate his grain.
CO Joyce Kuske (Little Falls) was approaching a stop sign at an intersection when a snowmobile rider ran the stop sign. He crossed directly in front of Kuske, requiring her to slam on the brakes to not hit him. Kuske stopped the snowmobiler, introduced herself and informed him he picked the wrong person to run a stop sign in front of that day. The snowmobiler agreed with Kuske. He was also displaying expired registration but had current registration in his pocket, as did a number of the riders in his group. It is a violation to not have valid registration displayed.
CO Garrett Thomas (Eagan) responded to a call where a nuisance turkey has been chasing residents around a neighborhood. Thomas walked the neighborhood and located a house that had been feeding the turkey daily and advised them that was likely the reason the turkey was hanging around. The feed was removed and follow up will be done to see if the turkey leaves.
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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