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 Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais)
checked bear hunters, ran into a few people scouting for moose hunting, and checked several people out for some late summer trout fishing. The wind made for tough canoe paddling. Bear complaints are still coming in.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte)
spent time checking bear bait stations and hunters; some nice bears have been taken so far. Wahlstrom also checked anglers as the salmon run has started on many local rivers. Wahlstrom also continued to follow up on past investigations.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland)
continued to work bear hunters and follow up on cases, including a bear out of season and several unregistered bait stations. The officer also worked area Lake Superior tributaries, checked big lake anglers, and checked inland lakes. Manning also attended Emergency Vehicle Operations Class at Camp Ripley.
CO Dan Starr (Tower)
received a call from a close neighbor, whose mailbox was damaged. Upon investigation, moose tracks indicated that the mighty beast used the mailbox as a scratching post.
CO Tony Anderson (Morris)
checked three people fishing from a paddleboat and found two of them fishing without licenses, none had lifejackets and one person had a felony warrant for his arrest.
CO Bob Mlynar (Aitkin)
assisted the Aitkin County Sheriff ’s Department with a lost bear hunter search. Three men spent the night with the mosquitoes after one of them couldn’t find his way back to their vehicles. The other two men decided to roam through the woods in search without any navigational equipment until 11 p.m. At that time they decided to stay put until daybreak. All three men found roads the following morning. The lost hunter’s stand was found to be about 100 yards from where the three men had parked their vehicles.
CO Matt Frericks (Virginia)
stopped a father and son who were stopped while operating their OHMs on the roadway. When it was discovered that both of the OHMs had not been registered for several years Frericks advised the father that a citation would be issued. After the citation was issued the father advised (directly in front of his son) that he should have run from the officer, which besides being unsafe, would also have been a felony and placed the off-highway motorcycles at risk of being forfeited!
CO Dan Thomasen (Two Harbors)
overheard a boat in distress call over the marine radio while driving along Highway 61. It was apparent that the U.S. Coast Guard was unable to hear the call for help, so the CO coordinated rescue efforts for the 30-foot vessel which had run aground on a reef in Lake Superior and was filling with water. The four passengers of the boat were brought to safety by members of Lake County Search and Rescue using a small boat launched from the rocky shoreline. Theboat was left sitting atop the reef with 4-plus feet of water inside, to be removed when appropriate equipment can be arranged.
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