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) checked anglers on Lake Superior and inland lakes, and monitored ATV activity. He followed up on boating complaints and calls related to nuisance wildlife. Enforcement action was taken for angling, boating and ATV violations.
CO Kylan Hill (Tofte) reports focusing a lot of time on AIS, sport fishing, and ATV safety throughout the week. Multiple drain plug violations were observed. One person in particular said he put his plug in at the beginning of the year when he put his boat on a lift in another state. When Hill stopped him in Grand Marais, his boat was full of water because he had yet to remove the plug. A citation was issued. A first-time ATV operator was educated on the importance of obtaining their ATV safety certificate. Multiple non-motorized registration violations were documented, and multiple people were issued citations for possessing aluminum cans of beer in the BWCA. One group had three large coolers full of the illegal item.
CO Don Murray (Two Harbors) worked boating and angling activity this past week. Salmon fishing improved on Lake Superior and some nice trout were also showing up in the catch. Nuisance-bear calls were also taken.
CO Randy Posner (Staples) worked on fishing enforcement this past week. The sunfish, crappies and bass have been the most productive for anglers on area lakes. He worked on boating enforcement issues this past week. Complaints of PWCs chasing loons and careless operation of wakeboard boats received some enforcement time. Violations observed were no fishing license and expired registration. Complaints included bears damaging bird feeders, and possibly taking a newborn calf.
CO Calie Kunst (Remer) attended training and spent time on ATV enforcement throughout the past week. Multiple violations were found, including allowing illegal operation by juvenile, failure to display valid registration and operating without headlights. A complaint was also taken on how short her Monday morning reports are. Kunst explained to the complainant she would work on doing better.
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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