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 (Grand Marais) spent the week in the BWCAW during the trout opener. Overall the ice conditions were decent with some deep pockets of slush. He also monitored snowmobile trails. Enforcement action was taken for taking fish out of season, live minnows on a designated trout lake and multiple snowmobile violations.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) worked anglers and snowmobilers primarily. Manning worked a detail with fellow officers for the first trout-fishing opening of the season on lakes entirely inside the BWCA. Slush is challenging on area lakes for both sleds and folks on foot. Manning also rang in the new year by being berated by a would-be skier upset about needing a Minnesota ski pass to use an area trail system. Manning explained the expenses involved in maintaining and grooming the outstanding ski trails paid for in part through the funding provided by the passes but the skier opted to skip buying a pass and went elsewhere.
CO Kylan Hill (Tofte) reports tackling a multitude of different winter activities throughout the past week. Hill took part in a Boundary Waters trout detail with area officers. Multiple anglers were contacted and a few different species were seen in the bag. One angler was spoken to about using game fish as bait. Snowmobiles are out in full force as the holiday season is behind us. A few registration violations were handled and a party was cited for an illegal exhaust. Hill hit the ski trails and contacted cross-country skiers. Unfortunately, ski pass compliance was very poor and multiple tickets and verbal warnings were issued.
CO Anthony Bermel (Babbitt) worked a two-day detail on Mille Lacs Lake with CO Lerchen. The lake was very busy with a high violation rate. Assistance was provided with fur registration in Tower, deer cases were worked, and lakes and trail were patrolled. Enforcement action included trapping without a small-game license, taking a doe without a permit, no fishing license, extra lines, unattended lines, illegal-length walleyes, over limit of walleyes, marijuana/ drug paraphernalia, and expired registration on ATVs and snowmobiles.
CO Mikeena Mattson (Wealthwood) worked primarily sport fishing and recreational vehicle enforcement. This past week, violations encountered included no fishing license in personal possession, fishing without a license, no shelter license on a non-portable ice shelter, no shelter identification, failure to display ATV registration, possessing unmeasurable fish, and litter.
CO Chris Vinton (Perham) reports ice conditions are very poor in the Perham area, with slush being the biggest problem on most lakes. One vehicle was reported through the ice on Otter Tail Lake. He received a call from a trapper who had forgotten about the fisher registration deadline and surrendered the two fishers he had taken nearly a week after the close of the season. A call of a wolf shot turned out to be a very large coyote. Enforcement action was taken for unregistered snowmobile, failure to transfer snowmobile and failure to register fisher.
CO Scott Staples (Carlton) assisted with fur tagging and attended a meeting with the Minnesota Trappers Association. There has been a fair amount of snowmobile activity in the area. Extra time was spent working complaint areas where enforcement action was taken for careless driving and failing to stop for stop signs. Assistance was given working angling enforcement on Mille Lacs Lake, where enforcement action was taken for angling without a license, angling without a license in possession, angling with an extra line and recreational vehicle registration violations. One fish house with three anglers resulted in three citations because they did not have angling licenses. They stated they thought they would just chance it (not getting licenses) because they were only fishing for a short time.
Contact local DNR Conservation Officers to report violations or ask questions:
Thomas Wahlstrom
218-370-0244
Kylan Hill
218-387-4393
Mary Manning
218-387-5285
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