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
CO Mary Manning (Hovland)
patrolled station campgrounds and lakes. Fishing has slowed with the warm weather. Manning also checked bear bait stations and minnow traps, answered questions on importing fish and game from Canada and took care of equipment maintenance.
CO Tom Wahlstrom (Tofte)
checked anglers and boaters in his station. Past problem areas were checked with the beginning of bear baiting. Equipment maintenance was handled. Enforcement action taken for angling and boating violations
CO Matt Frericks (Virginia)
was checking some people angling from a dock on an island on Vermilion when he noticed that the couple had purchased a combination angling license but that the woman supposedly decided to keep her last name. Further scrutiny showed that neither the man nor woman wore any rings. Frericks then asked the two to separately write down their wedding date. When the two dates were several months off the anglers admitted they were not married. The licenses were seized, invalidated and a citation was issued.
Water Resource Enforcement Officer Mike Scott
issued six Aquatic Plant Restoration Orders to a contractor and land developer on an area lake for removing aquatic plants from below the ordinary high water level. The contractor had brush-hogged all the cattails in front of the new lake lots to improve the eye appeal for the grand opening of the development area.
CO Mike Martin (St Cloud)
spoke with a landowner from Hubbard County who encountered a trespasser on his tree farm. The landowner said that the trespasser had told him he was from St. Cloud and the landowner wanted the St. Cloud officer to be aware of the situation. The landowner said that he had encountered trespassers before but this one was different in that the trespasser “was naked except for a hat and tennis shoes.” The investigation is ongoing.
CO Robert Haberman (Little Falls)
responded to a call of a bear that was shot at a residence after it had killed a goat and was attempting to kill a pony. The individual who shot the bear stated he yelled at the bear and threw a 2×4 at it to scare it away and to distract it from the pony. The board did get the bear’s attention, and when it started to walk toward him he shot the bear.
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