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) checked anglers and monitored snowmobile activity in the area. He responded to a snowmobile accident and handled nuisanceanimal calls. Enforcement action was taken for snowmobile violations.

CO Kylan Hill (Tofte) reports a snowmobile-themed week in Cook County. A law and ethics presentation was given to 27 students at Cook County High School taking snowmobile safety. Hill hit the trails and saw very high snowmobile activity with excellent compliance and very few violations. A couple of missing registration stickers were handled. Speed was the focus over the weekend and multiple people were stopped for violating the 50 mile per hour speed limit. A snowmobile-trespass complaint was fielded in Lutsen.

CO Anthony Bermel (Babbitt) worked a busy week of winter activity. Weekend snowmobile activity was extremely heavy. Plenty of enforcement action to report, including expired snowmobile registration, no trail sticker, careless operation, illegal speed, loud exhaust, unattended lines, extra lines, fishing without a license, fishing after revocation, and no ski pass. In one noteworthy contact, an individual was stopped twice the same afternoon in two different locations for substantially exceeding the snowmobile speed limit. In another contact, an angler on Lake Vermilion was observed reeling in his extra line before permitting entry into his fish house. Bermel recognized the angler’s name and discovered he had issued the same angler an extra-line citation last winter on Lake Vermilion and the angler’s angling privileges were currently revoked.

CO Dustie Speldrich (Willow River) worked area trails and lakes on snowmobile. Enforcement action was taken for failing to display shelter license and no identification on a shelter. She reminded anglers that their license will expire at the end of the month. Questions regarding the shelter deadline were answered. Speldrich received a complaint of a dead wolf dumped in the ditch in a neighboring station. An investigation revealed that it was a coyote.

CO Jim Guida (Brainerd East) checked sport fishing and snowmobile trail activity this week. An enforcement detail was done around a permitted radar run where numerous snowmobiles were observed traveling separate from the event over the legal speed limit. Some riders on trail straightaways admitted traveling over 75 miles an hour. Guida wants to remind riders that the statewide speed limit is 50 miles per hour. Lower speed equals safer trails for everyone.

CO Brittany Hauser (Red Wing) spent the week patrolling for area fishing activity. While she was patrolling ice anglers by airboat with Goodhue County deputies, an angler in the area called Hauser and stated that a truck had just broken through the ice near where the officers were. Hauser and the deputies were able to quickly arrive to the location of the vehicle and found that the truck was now three-quarters submerged but the sole occupant had managed to exit the vehicle and get onto better ice. Ice anglers should keep in mind that ice is never 100 percent safe and ice conditions can vary greatly over short distances. Time was also spent checking open-water anglers near Lock and Dam 3.

CO Mark Mathy (Cass Lake) continued to check anglers and snowmobile trails. Snowmobile riders continue to find good trail conditions. The excessive snow and recent winds on lakes are creating an issue for anglers and access to the lakes. Mathy looked into three separate public waters alteration violation complaints. Mathy also responded to a truck stuck on a snowmobile trail. A nuisance-bobcat complaint was received. Enforcement action was taken for angling, snowmobile, and snowmobile trail violations.

CO Vinny Brown (Northome) spent time patrolling on snowmobile and checking ice anglers. An angler on Lake Winnibigoshish was found in possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. The marijuana and paraphernalia was seized and enforcement action was taken. An angler on Island Lake received a citation for no shelter license on a non-portable fish house. The same angler received a warning from another CO in southern Minnesota four days prior for the same violation. Several anglers were checked on Lake Winnibigoshish on the last day of the season. Enforcement action was taken for possession of fully dressed walleye fillets, no shelter license, and fishing with extra lines. Numerous anglers received warnings for no fishing licenses in possession.

CO Bret Grundmeier (Hinckley) spent time with about 40 or 50 students from the Hinckley area while they spent the day fishing. Kids from kindergarten up through high school went to a local lake to do some fishing. For many, it was their first-time ice fishing. The Finlayson/Giese Sportsman’s Club provided a new fishing pole for every student to use and take home. Recent snowfall had trails in very good condition and a lot of time was also spent patrolling the trails. Violations dealt with included trespassing, registration issues and exceeding the speed limit.

CO Arnaud Kpachavi (Mound) focused on angling activity during the week. Multiple vehicles have gone through the ice on west metro lakes during the past two weeks and some spots through channels, near streams/ rivers and near springs have little to no ice left. Enforcement action was taken for angling and license violations.