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)
attended the yearly in-service training at Camp Ripley. He checked stream fishermen and did seasonal maintenance work.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte)
spent the week training officersin firearms and use of force during the first week of in-service at Camp Ripley. The officer also armored shotguns while he was down there. Wahlstrom checked anglers on Lake Superior and monitored streams and rivers.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland)
attended annual training in firearms, emergency management and first aid at Camp Ripley. Manning also patrolled area trout streams, checked inland lakes and beaver traps, and responded to a report of an illegal brush fire.
CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing)
assisted with a firealong a railroad track that was contained quickly; however, a fire truck got stuck on the tracks while an oncoming train was approaching. Luckily the train was stopped and the truck pulled out.
CO Marty Stage (Ely)
got a report that some college students were dropping boulders and asphalt chunks on spawning fish from a bridge. Luckily, the walleyes are about done spawning. Interesting encounters also included the officer observing a wolf run down the road, then turn off the road, running right between two seemingly unconcerned grouse that were also standing on the edge of the road about 60 feet apart. Stage also saw a wolf walk across the rock rapids at Pipestone Falls where the suckers and walleyes were spawning.
CO Cary Shoutz (Crosslake)
found one over limit violation. Two guys in a boat tried to leave the lake suddenly after detecting the officer’s presence. The boat was stopped and one of the guys’ first questions was, “What is the limit on crappies anyway?” They were two fish over limit. Another boat was checked on the same lake and when asked how many crappie they had the guy commented they had one shy of their limit. As the guy raised his fish basket proudly displaying 19 twelve-inch crappies, the bottom of the basket gave way, and all but a couple crappie returned to the lake. The guy and his wife commented it had taken them five hours to catch them and they were not very happy with their new fish basket.
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