After 28 years and eight months with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fisheries division, Paul Eiler is retiring. He will continue to volunteer as a DNR firearm and hunter safety instructor.
The Cook County News- Herald caught up with Paul Eiler on his last day at work at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Grand Marais office on Monday, April 6. Eiler was retiring after 28 years and eight months with the DNR, all with fisheries.
Eiler recalled that he had spent six years in fishery research and the rest of his time in fish management. Both jobs were interesting, he said, with research focusing on one lake and one topic, while management offered diversity, with sampling of 20 – 40 different lakes in a season. Management includes looking at fish populations—how many fish, what kind, how big they are, how old and if they are natural or stocked fish?
Looking at fish populations shows if stocking programs are working or not. “We find out if it’s worth stocking a lake or if we need to do something different,” explained Eiler.
At the luncheon at the DNR office in his honor, Eiler and colleagues talked about days spent test netting and stocking lakes. When the conversation turned to an upcoming study of Alder Lake, Eiler said he had never visited Alder—one of very few lakes he hadn’t monitored.
Eiler said while it is interesting to visit a new lake, he is ready for retirement. He’s visited most lakes in the Arrowhead two or three times. Sometimes testing lasted several days, such as a week at Gillis Lake or Gabimichigami Lake.
Asked if he had any wildlife encounters while in the field, Eiler recalled seeing moose swimming—and once a bear swimming in the channel between Iron and Little Iron lakes. Eiler said he hadn’t had any close calls, but noted that he followed the advice of friend Mark Nordman. Upon seeing sign of a bear in the vicinity, he’d call out, “Hello bear! Hello there, bear!”
Eiler said while hiking along Mud Creek he had seen beavers hard at work, diverting the water into a new channel. Eiler enjoyed bushwhacking along streams like that. He said in his travels he discovered a hidden 10-12 foot waterfall on Elbow Creek and another 10-foot waterfall on Fiddle Creek. At the Fiddle Creek waterfall, he watched lake trout trying to get up the waterfall. “You see some interesting things like that when you do stream reconnaissance,” he said.
Asked if he’ll miss heading out to such remote areas, Eiler said, “No, I have other things to be doing.”
Eiler said he would continue serving as a volunteer DNR firearms safety instructor, something he’s been doing for 16 years now. The course starts next week, so Eiler will be busy for a while. When the course is done, he has some home improvement projects he plans to tackle. Watch for him in the hardware store!
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