District 1 – Baudette area
Last updated: 2024-04-22
CO Ben Huener (Roseau) checked sturgeon anglers on the Rainy River and Lake of the Woods. Turkey hunting activity was checked in Roseau and Marshall counties, and enforcement action was taken regarding two different parties for hunting turkeys without a license, with additional enforcement action taken for a turkey killed without a license in a previous year.
CO Tony Hams (Warroad North) spent the week checking area anglers, monitoring ATV traffic, and checking turkey hunters. Violations encounters were hunting without a license and operating a Class II ATV with juveniles without helmets.
CO Coby Fontes (Warroad South) spent the week patrolling area lands and waters. Enforcement action was taken for attempting to take a turkey without a turkey license, taking fish without an angling license, and expired watercraft registration.
CO Nicholas Prachar (Baudette West) reports that ice-out has been swift and sturgeon anglers have had success. Time was spent working angling activity. Enforcement action was taken for targeting fish out of season as well as outstanding warrants.
CO Jeremy Woinarowicz (Thief River Falls West) taught the law and ethics portion of the firearms safety classes in Warren and Oslo. He also checked anglers and turkey hunters during the spring turkey season opening weekend. Enforcement action for the week included angling with extra lines, angling without a valid license, no lights on an ATV, and an open alcohol container in motor vehicle.
CO Sarah Jahn (Thief River Falls East) spent time working the spring turkey opener. Turkey opener was slow with wet, cold weather likely keeping hunters away. However, those did brave the weather appeared to have good success. A firearms safety law talk was given in Argyle. Enforcement action was taken for transporting loaded firearms, burning prohibited materials, and allowing illegal youth operation on off-highway motorcycles.
CO Nick Bruesewitz (Karlstad) taught the law and ethics portion of the youth firearms safety class in Argyle. ?A? season turkey hunters saw some success in the cold conditions in the northwest. Additional time was spent working fire enforcement for failure to tend to a permitted fire.
CO Demosthenes Regas (Blackduck South) reports working spring beaver trapping, angling activity, and boating safety checks throughout this past week. Time was spent monitoring recreational vehicle trails with seasonal spring thaw closures and spring fish-run activity. Regas also reports handling several calls of incidental catches of otters from people who were beaver trapping.
CO Brice Vollbrecht (Blackduck North) checked area creeks and rivers for spring fish-run activity. Time was taken to patrol ATV trails and forest roads. Several incidentally caught otters were taken in.
Baudette East vacant.
District 2 – Bemidji area
Last updated: 2024-04-29
CO Tom Hutchins (Crookston) reports checking anglers and turkey hunters this week. Various wildlife-related calls were also received.
CO Andrew Goodman (Perham) monitored angling and fish spawning activity throughout the week. TIP complaints regarding bowfishing were handled before the season opened in the northern half of the state this weekend. Turkey hunting activity was sporadic in the rainy, cool weather. Additional time was spent assisting other agencies and investigating illegal fires.
CO Jordan Anderson (Osage) spent time on fire investigations, as well as fishing and recreational vehicle enforcement. Enforcement action was taken for a variety of fire-related violations. ATV violations were addressed, as well as an ATV-related DWI arrest. Forest roads are now open in the Smoky Hills and Two Inlets state forests.
CO Bill Landmark (Moorhead) spent the week working on ongoing game and shoreline violation cases. Calls from the public included complaints of nuisance bears and other nuisance wildlife, as well as incidentally taken otters. Time was also spent assisting with a firearms safety field day.
CO Angie Warren (Mahnomen) spent time on angling and leeching activity. WMAs and WPAs were patrolled. Areas were monitored for illegal fire activity. Station trails were patrolled for ATV and off-road vehicle activity. Warren taught the laws and ethics portion of a firearms safety class in Detroit Lakes.
CO Brady Manteufel (Bagley) attended training at Camp Ripley this week. Questions about trapping and game licenses were answered and lakes in the area were checked for activity. Manteufel ended the week by attending the Boy Scouts interactive career fair at Battle Axe Lake.
CO Jamus Veit (Bemidji #2) attended training at Camp Ripley. Time was also spent checking angling activity, monitoring ATV traffic, and fielding calls from the public. Enforcement action was taken for taking fish without a license, failure to renew ATV registration, and OHM operation on a public road right-of-way.
Pelican Rapids vacant.
Bemidji #1 vacant.
District 3 – Fergus Falls area
Last updated: 2024-04-29
CO Hanna Wood (Fergus Falls) spent the past week assisting other COs and administration with miscellaneous projects. She also attended the Boy Scouts Wilderness Camp Career Fair in Park Rapids over the weekend and spoke with a lot of kids, and some adults, about what Conservation Officers do and how to become one. She would also like to remind Fergus Falls area parents to get their eligible kids signed up for the Youth ATV Safety Class in Fergus Falls on June 1st. You can find more information on the DNR website under the education and safety tab.
CO Tricia Plautz (Henning) hosted an ATV safety class certifying 25 youth. Fishing, turkey hunters and ATV riders were monitored with nuisance wildlife complaints handled.
CO Ryan Brown (Elbow Lake) spent most of his enforcement effort on trapping and angling activity this week. He also spoke at a firearm safety class about law and ethics, and he continued to monitor turkey hunting. Enforcement action was taken for fishing violations and incidentally trapped animals were fielded.
CO Shane Osborne (Evansville) checked fishermen, boaters, ATV?s and responded to dumping complaints. A firearm safety class in Millerville was attended and the laws and ethics talk was given. Turkey and sucker dumping complaints were received and investigated. A large pile of suckers was dumped on private property northeast of Battle Lake. Please have a plan for the animals you harvest whether they are considered rough fish or not.
CO Felicia Znajda (Osakis) spoke with several turkey hunters throughout the week with moderate amount of success. She investigated complaints of shoreline violations. She has been preparing for Safety Day in Alexandria and for upcoming firearms safety classes. She also checked pan fish and trout anglers.
CO Daniel Baumbarger (Glenwood) reports enforcement efforts for the week were concentrated on checking turkey hunters and fishermen. Additional time was spent performing maintenance on station equipment.
CO Jake Homan (Alexandria) spent the week patrolling Douglas County. Time was spent monitoring angling and turkey hunting activities. Numerous calls were taken regarding the upcoming angling season.
Wheaton vacant.
District 4 – Walker area
Last updated: 2024-04-29
CO Nick Baum (Park Rapids) followed up on a public waters violation investigation. CO Baum patrolled the area for spring fishing. CO Baum wants to remind the public to ensure they purchased a 2024 license before going fishing.
CO Michael Cross (Lake George) checked traps, turkey hunters, anglers, and ATVS. Equipment maintenance was conducted, and numerous questions were fielded about a variety of topics which mainly focused on Spring Turkey hunting.
CO Jacque Johnson (Longville) checked angling activity. Enforcement action taken on a crappie overlimit and fishing without a license.
CO Corey Sura (Remer) completed commercial inspections, and continued investigation of ongoing cases. Sura patrolled the Rainy River where despite the chilly and wet weather, many sturgeon anglers were trying their luck. Several anglers were checked with legal ?keeper? sturgeon. Enforcement action was taken for an individual who failed to attach their tag to a sturgeon in their possession, and unlawful transportation of a sturgeon. Other boating violations such as insufficient number of PFD?s and expired boat registration were also handled.
CO Patrick McGowan (Walker) worked angling and boating enforcement throughout the week. Time was spent working Cass Co lakes, and the Rainy River for the sturgeon season. CO McGowan also spent time at Camp Ripley assisting with division equipment. Enforcement action was taken for numerous violations.
CO Landyn Saewert (Wadena) checked bow fishermen on local river crossings, minimal success was observed. A juvenile reported he had accidently shot two turkeys while hunting, enforcement action was taken. CO Saewert assisted CO Plautz with an ATV class in Bertha, approximately 25 kids were in attendance.
CO Adam Seifermann (Staples) Reports checking anglers and hunters. Some enforcement action for the week consisted of burning prohibited material, burning during a ban, failing to obtain a burning permit, turkey over-limit and allowing a juvenile to violate fish/game laws and angling without a license. He also conducted a Commercial Game Farm inspection and spent time answering fishing and hunting questions.
CO Mark Mathy (Cass Lake) checked anglers, boaters, ATV?s and turkey hunting activities. Some time was spent preparing training material for the CO academy. Spring fish run locations were checked. Enforcement action was taken for an angling violation.
ATV rec officer vacant.
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