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) worked the busy holiday weekend checking anglers, boaters and ATV riders. Time was spent on Lake Superior, inland lakes and in the BWCAW. Enforcement action was taken for boating and angling violations
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) patrolled lakes over the busy holiday week; one boat contacted had no life jackets at all, in addition to being overloaded with passengers. Paddle boarders and kayakers are reminded that they need to have life jackets as well. Manning also helped teach firearms at the current Academy at Camp Ripley, assisted with a county call on fireworks and participated as part of the Minnesota DNR Honor Guard at the funeral of White Earth Conservation Officer Richard Fox Jr.
CO David Schottenbauer (Silver Bay) encountered an 8-year-old who was refusing to wear a PFD as required by law. He offered the kid a ride back to the camp site and an end to the day’s boating activities. The kid promptly put on his PFD, and Schottenbauer noted a smirk from Grandma.
CO Don Murray (Two Harbors) reports that bear activity remained high with the animals finding human food sources mostly in unsecured trash bins.
CO Sean Williams (Ely) assisted St. Louis County and Lake County Search and Rescue for several days in the BWCA searching for a camper who had walked away from his group. During the second day of searching it was discovered that the missing person had intentionally left his group to attempt to walk through the 1.1-million-acre Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario. Rescue efforts were called off after no sign was found. A Canadian search plane was able to locate him after three days of being missing and he was brought to American authorities in International Falls.
CO Brice Vollbrecht (Bemidji) responded to a complaint of a dog caught in a foothold trap. The dog was safely removed by the owner and not harmed.
CO Dustie Speldrich (Willow River) had many contacts with ATV riders and OHM operators. Issues included expired registration, failure to display valid registration and illegal operation of an ATV by a 7-year-old. This same child tried to hide from Speldrich as they knew they were not supposed to be where they were. Contact was made with the parents, who said they didn’t know the child had left with the ATV.
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