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)
focused enforcement efforts this week on anglers. Time was spent on Lake Superior and inland lakes. The water is warming up fast and the salmon are starting to hit up the shore on Superior. Enforcement action was taken for angling and boating violations.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland)
worked lakes and public accesses checking anglers and boaters. Manning followed up on a public waters case, investigated an incident at a state park, and attended a meeting on DNR fine schedules. Manning also responded to U.S. Customs to assist with a couple who attempted to sneak 34 extra walleyes in from Ontario; the couple left with some paperwork from the CO instead of their fish. Ironically, they had been fishing on Conservation Licenses.
CO Shane Osborne (Evansville)
issued a permit to a local science teacher for a possession of a loon for science classes. The loon was observed killed by another loon on a local lake.
CO Marty Stage (Ely)
worked ATV, boat safety, and fishermen. The fishing has been slow, but there are ripe blueberries already. There was a call about a fisher caught in a snare. When Stage investigated, he found that even fishers can have really bad days. The poor thing was the victim of some light wire (litter) left on a power line (likely after some work that was done last year), that was about 20 feet long. The fisher had apparently run through the wire and gotten tangled. He then began to struggle/spin and ended up hanging over a dead tree with his hind quarters off the ground till he died. The lesson to be learned from this freak and gruesome wildlife accident was that it was totally preventable if someone had just disposed of their garbage responsibly.
CO Dan Thomasen (Two Harbors)
investigated an abandoned camper trailer at one of the area state forest campgrounds. Judging by the age and disrepair of the mouse-infested camper, someone likely used the campground as a dumping area to get rid of the trailer. Thomasen received a report of a bald eagle in distress in the waters of Lake Superior near the Two Harbors City Campground. By the time the officer arrived, the eagle had made it to shore, dried itself and had taken flight. Upon speaking with witnesses, Thomasen speculates that the eagle possibly caught a fish too heavy to lift and became mired in the water. The eagle was lucky to escape drowning.
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