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 checking anglers on Lake Superior and inland lakes. The lake trout were cooperating for anglers on Superior. He worked AIS and handled several nuisance-bear complaints. Enforcement action was taken for boating and angling violations.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) took a couple more reports of nuisance bears at campsites and cabins. The DNR and Bearwise.org both have information that is helpful to folks living in black bear-frequented areas. Manning also answered questions on ATV use, attended a meeting regarding payable fines, continued to assist with a land-use issue and worked a call regarding illegal angling.
CO Kylan Hill (Tofte) reports spending most of the week in the BWCAW. Multiple canoes and campsites were checked, and the fishing wasn’t the best. A few anglers reported hooking into only a couple of pike and lake trout. Hill was happy to see that every person paddling on the lakes had an approved personal floatation device and every canoe was property registered. Windy conditions on Friday kept a lot of people stuck in camp. One camper was spoken to about possessing glass. Hill also attended emergency vehicle operations training at Camp Ripley.
CO Hanna Wood (Wheaton) focused this week on angling and recreational vehicle enforcement. She took calls regarding a deer-possession tag, fishing in a closed area, minnow transport permits, and nuisance beaver. Wood assisted Traverse County in searching for a missing person as well as assisting boaters who got stranded on Lake Traverse. Enforcement action for the week included angling without a license, no sound-producing device on watercraft, life jacket required for children under 10, unregistered ATV and several youth ATV operation violations.
CO Randy Posner (Staples) worked on fishing enforcement this past week. The nice weather brought out a fair amount of anglers. He checked boaters and powered water craft (PWC) operators on area lakes. PWC violations observed were driving too close to shore at faster than no-wake speed. Boating violations observed were no registration and insufficient PFDs. He received a complaint of bears getting into garbage cans and knocking over bird feeders. Some of the other complaints received were PWC operators chasing loons and boat operators causing damage with their wakes.
CO Don Murray (Two Harbors) worked boating and fishing activity this week. Lake Superior had lots of angling activity with lake trout and even a few salmon being caught. Murray assisted Lake County Sheriff ’s Office with the extraction of an injured hiker.
CO Sarah Grell (Grand Rapids) handled a couple snapping turtle cases this past week. One involved the illegal killing by motor vehicle. The other was where a snapping turtle was found in a handicapped port-a-potty at a public access. Targeting snapping turtles in these ways is illegal and persons found breaking the law will be investigated.
CO Chelsey Best (Crosslake) took enforcement action this week for no licenses, no PFDs, bow riding, fish over-limit and no helmets. During an ATV stop, the driver stated he saw Best sitting off the side of a township road, and knew he was driving too fast, but wanted to see if she was “courageous” enough to follow at a high rate of speed to get him stopped. Enforcement action was taken for his operation, no ATV safety and no helmet on a 14-year-old passenger.
CO Nathan Benkofske (Milaca) worked a BWCAW detail checking canoe safety laws and campsite and fishing regulations. On the drive back home, Benkofske and CO Seamans came upon a man shooting at vehicle traffic from his lawn with a shotgun. The individual then shot at the COs and was taken to jail without anyone getting hurt.
CO Annette Kyllo (Rochester #1) received a call from an individual who had a snapping turtle relaxing in his yard. It was not causing problems. Because the individual had never seen a turtle in that location, he felt that this one needed to be relocated. The individual was advised to leave the turtle alone and it would move on by itself. Kyllo also completed online training and checked anglers. Enforcement action was taken for individuals angling without an angling license
CO Tom Hemker (Winona) reports continued high use by boaters and anglers on the river. He responded to complaints of illegal work on state waters, a possible WCA violation and illegal taking of turtles. Hemker responded to several nuisance-animal calls. One call involved a snake found in the passenger compartment of a car days after the car had been used to transport brush to a dump.
CO Kevin Prodzinski (Wabasha) reports working another busy week on the Mississippi River and Lake Pepin areas along with attending some Division training. Fishing and boating activity this past week and weekend have been heavy with the warmer weather and most folks were having success. Several people were contacted Saturday night with a total of 11 live turtles stuffed in bags and backpacks while leaving the river. The turtles were seized due to the closed season and enforcement action was taken.
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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