CO Mary Manning (Hovland) attended an Honor Guard meeting and helped with handgun training for the new officers in the Academy. She also took a call of a nuisance beaver causing road flooding.
CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) reports lots of activity in the backwoods and on lakes. Anglers and boat and water safety equipment were checked. A remote designated trout lake patrol was also done.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) spent the week at Camp Ripley teaching firearms skills and tactics.
CO John Slatinski (Ray) took several calls of people dealing with beavers causing damage to property, with one individual reporting the animals had chewed through his water line for the second time.
CO Garrett Thomas (Eagan) spent time following up on numerous TIP complaints including one where an individual was shooting goslings with a pellet gun. Enforcement action was taken on a variety of things including fishing without a license and illegally taking geese out of season.
CO Shane Zavodnik (International Falls) responded to a call around midnight about an individual who was on a local lake and was scared for his safety. The individual was brought back to shore and picked up thereafter. Zavodnik also followed up on a litter case involving a bag of trash left at a public landing during the week. The individual fully admitted the garbage was his. He said there’s usually trash cans where he put the bag of garbage, so that’s why he did it. Enforcement action was taken.
CO Bret Grundmeier (Hinckley) received complaints of wolves harassing cattle and killing calves. One local rancher lost three calves to wolf depredation within a one-week period. There was also an increase in nuisance black bear activity. Property owners were reporting adult bears and their cubs exploring decks, lawns, garages, and getting into garbage cans, dog food bowls and bird feeders. One homeowner reported waking up to a bear standing on the deck, bellied up to the gas grill and licking up the grease from past cook outs.
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!
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