Conservation Officer Tales

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 time checking remote trout lakes and lakes along the border. The officer assisted in teaching a snowmobile safety class to the US Forest Service. Enforcement action was taken for snowmobile and angling violations.

CO Kylan Hill (Tofte) reports continued background investigation work throughout the week.

CO David Schottenbauer (Silver Bay) worked area angling and snowmobile activity this week. CO Schottenbauer also assisted local law enforcement with vehicles off the road.

CO Sean Williams (Ely 1) lake trout angling pressure stayed high over the week and into the weekend. Less success was found on the local designated trout lakes but a good amount of fish were seen. Violations included: angling without a license in possession, failure to register fisher, and excessive snowmobile speed.

CO John Velsvaag (Ely) checked anglers and snowmobilers this past week. Slush is still bad on many of the lakes in the area and fishing was slow. Snowmobile trail conditions are very good and several calls came in about snowmobilers not stopping at road intersections and operating on the road.

CO Taylor Hochstein (Hill City) responded to a call of a snowmobile that was on fire on the trail. Luckily nobody was injured but the snowmobile had been torched so badly that it hardly resembled a snowmobile anymore. The only thing that was recognizable was a frozen pizza that the operator was carrying on the back of the snowmobile and was going to cook for dinner after his ride.

CO Tom Hemker (Winona) reports busy snowmobile trails in the area. He also checked fishermen and ATVs along with trout fishermen and small game hunters. Hemker received a phone call from a deer hunter that was charged with illegal deer hunting. The hunter gave instruction to Hemker for future patrol techniques along with possible law changes for the DNR.

CO Pilot Jason Jensen (Brainerd) reports flying wolf telemetry flights and checking ice anglers from the plane. Enforcement action for no angling license in possession and expired ATV registration were found.

CO Garrett Thomas (Eagan) spent time checking ice anglers locally. Many issues were handled relating to shelter IDs and identification on all the local lakes. One shelter inspected was discovered with a carbon monoxide alarm going off inside, and after confirming nobody was inside, CO Thomas was able to track down the owner via his shelter tag to come check on his shelter and propane leak.