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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 early ice anglers and a few hunters. He maintained station equipment and completed required training.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) patrolled area roads and trails. There is still a fair bit of unfrozen swamp, brush and downed trees on some snowmobile trails and clubs are continuing to get things groomed as they are able. Colder weather is helping with lake ice, but anyone venturing out should be vigilant about frequently checking thickness as they go out.
CO Kylan Hill (Tofte) reports a slower week of activity in Cook County. Stemming from a cease-and-desist order issued the week before, Hill issued citations for unpermitted public waters work and failure to file a contractor responsibility form after a contractor knowingly conducted unpermitted shoreline/bank work along Lake Superior. Continued investigatory work was done on a big-game case from the firearms deer season.
CO Shane Zavodnik (Virginia) and COC Coby Fontes gave a presentation on decorative forest products to a group of approximately 100 DNR forest officers. Time was spent on Upper Red Lake for the early ice walleye bite. It resulted in 15 individuals being cited for violations. Most notably, nine people were cited for the possession of an overlimit of walleyes, one person was cited for possessing a fish outside of the slot, and one person was cited for having unattended lines. A total of 42 walleyes were seized during 12 hours of work on the busy lake. Enforcement action was also taken against several individuals for drug-related offenses, which resulted in the seizure of numerous grams of marijuana and several pieces of drug-related paraphernalia.
CO Vinny Brown (Northome) checked ice anglers, checked trapping activity, and completed equipment maintenance. As temperatures decrease, he has seen an increase in the number of people getting out onto the ice. They’re having decent success. One group of anglers found out the hard way that using only the winch to secure their ATV to their snowmobile trailer was a bad idea. The group made it 10 miles before they realized they had lost an ATV. Luckily, the ATV stayed upright on the highway and didn’t cause any collisions.
CO Nicholas Prachar (Blackduck North) reports increased fishing activity on Upper Red Lake. Prachar worked with other local COs and the Beltrami County Sheriff ’s Office to retrieve a significant number of anglers who blew away from shore on Upper Red Lake. Time was spent working muzzleloader deer-hunting and angling activity.
CO James Fogarty (Prior Lake) gave a snowmobile regulations talk to a group of approximately 40 youth students in Savage. Fogarty also followed up on a fire case where 16 acres burned due to negligent acts. Fogarty talked to people gathering decorative boughs from state wildlife management areas. Enforcement action was taken for collecting decorative boughs without a permit, negligent fire and trapping violations.
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