CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) took a call on his first bear complaint of the year. Again, it was caused by garbage left outside of a residence. The officer did a BWCAW canoe patrol and worked Operation Dry Water detail.
CO Mary Manning (Grand Marais East) worked with other officers on an AIS check station over the busy holiday weekend; many boaters from in and out of state received information and had boats checked. The officer also checked anglers and boaters on inland lakes, attended the Cook County AIS Task Force meeting, and followed up on an open wetlands case.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) worked anglers, boaters, and ATVs. Enforcement action was taken for angling, boating, and ATV violations.
CO Joyce Kuske (Little Falls), while checking two youth fishing at a public access, found that they had driven themselves there in an SUV. Kuske told them she was glad they wanted to be fishing – which is a great activity for them – but the youth were found to be only 14 and 12 years old.
CO Caleb Silgjord (Sauk Centre), while observing several anglers, noticed one utilizing a second line. Upon approaching the boat the angler had burned the line on one of the rods. Unfortunately, the line fell from the rod and into the water in front of the officer. Silgjord removed the line from the water and revealed a crawler rig. The angler apologized for attempting to conceal the violation and enforcement action was taken.
CO Bret Grundmeier (Hinckley) spent the week patrolling area lakes and while approaching one boat, a pair of anglers dropped their rods, sat down in the boat and told the CO they were not fishing but just hanging out and enjoying the day. It took an explanation of the fishing activity that was observed through binoculars before the pair admitted to fishing and not bothering to purchase a license. Another angler who was found using multiple lines made the statement, “Are you actually going to write me a ticket? It’s not like I’m out here poaching huge numbers of fish!”
CO Amber Ladd (McGregor) responded to an area lake after receiving information that two young adults were operating a jet ski through a flock of geese. She conducted follow up and identified the males. After interviewing them it was discovered one operator drove through the geese, then they fell off the PWC. They switched places and the other male then operated the PWC through the geese. No injured geese were located and enforcement action was taken for both operators.
CO Scott Staples (Carlton) assisted the local Sheriff ’s Office in locating a missing ATV driver that got her ATV stuck and spent the night in the woods. K9 assistance was also given to a local police department in locating an intoxicated individual who had a potential life threatening cut on his wrist and fled from an apartment complex. With help from K9 Schody, he was found and officers were able to get him the medical treatment he needed.
CO Thor Nelson (New Ulm) spoke with some grandparents who took their young grandsons catfishing. They were fishing with stink bait and had an open container next to them on shore. A short-tail weasel approached within 3-4 feet of one of the grandsons and helped itself to the stink bait. Apparently it was flavorful because the weasel returned for seconds.
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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