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 at Camp Ripley assisting with firearms qualifications. He also checked small-game hunters and ATV riders.

CO Mary Manning (Hovland) checked grouse hunters and saw many people looking at leaves. Some members of each group were oblivious to the fact that they were stopping in the middle of regularly traveled roadways and putting themselves and other drivers at risk. “Bear” is the word of the week with numerous reports of bears being bears and cleaning up under bird feeders and trying to take food packs. Taking in feeders at night still leaves plenty of seed on the ground to attract bears and other wild animals. Manning also assisted with fall training at Camp Ripley.

CO Kylan Hill (Tofte) reports attending annual training at Camp Ripley during the week. The pink salmon run is still going strong with stringers of fish being checked on various tributaries. One angler was cited for not having a trout stamp. He admitted that he realized in early August that he forgot to purchase a stamp. He told Hill that his laziness got in the way and he still hadn’t purchased one. Hill and U.S. Forest Service Officer Belmore took to their ATVs over the weekend, coming into contact with numerous riders and small-game hunters. Almost every violation detected was for driving a motor vehicle or ATV with an open container of alcohol. One of the open-container drivers was also cited for ATV violations after Hill observed that their 7-year-old passenger did not have a helmet or seatbelt on.

CO Garrett Thomas (Eagan) spent time checking smallgame and duck hunters locally. Duck hunters experienced greater success this week, especially in regards to wood ducks and teal. Thomas also took a call from a concerned caller who wanted to report “multiple dead raccoons and squirrels with their heads cut off along a stretch of the highway, likely from a ritualistic poacher displaying kills to get a reaction from the public.” Thomas arrived on scene and determined not only was it just three normal roadkilled raccoons, but all had their heads still.

WREO Dustie Speldrich (North Metro) assisted the county with a lost hunter in the Nemadji State Forest. The hunter was found. She also assisted the county and CO Mattson with a driving complaint. The driver was arrested for driving while under the influence and assault. Speldrich attended training at Camp Ripley. She also received complaints regarding Wetland Conservation Act violations and public waters issues. Questions regarding docks that exceed size limits were answered.

CO Todd VanderWeyst (Paynesville) had a busy week. He assisted area county sheriff ’s deputies with two vehicles in the ditch. One was a semi driver who was arrested for DWI. VanderWeyst also assisted with a capsized boat where an angler went out on Rice Lake on a very windy day. His ability to pull the inflation cord on the life jacket he was wearing saved his life. VanderWeyst attended training at Camp Ripley as well. Several other calls were handled in vacant stations as well, including hunting in the closed area of a WMA, cameras left in WMAs and litter in a protected waterway.

CO Shane Zavodnik (Virginia) spent time attending annual in-service at Camp Ripley over the week. He also followed up on a suspicious vehicle complaint that resulted in two individuals found to have illegally harvested approximately 430 spruce tops on private land. Zavodnik worked ATV and small-game enforcement over the weekend. Many grouse hunters were encountered with reports of few birds harvested. Enforcement action taken over the week included several ATV violations and transporting decorative forestry materials without written consent.