CO Kevin Prodzinski (Wabasha) Fishing was good early in the week but the rain, ice melt and cold has caused river temperatures to drop and water levels to rise and fishing success has suffered. An airboat-rescue situation occurred on North Lake after an ice angler went through the ice. Several boat and water enforcement details resulted in enforcement action. Finally, assistance was provided to the county attorney’s office regarding a gross misdemeanor deer case.
District 1 – Baudette area
Last updated: 2022-04-04
CO Ben Huener (Roseau) taught waterfowl identification and enforcement techniques to the conservation officers who attended the past two academies. The training was at Whitewater State Park.
CO Corey Sura (Baudette East) spent time on both the hard water and open water, as the Rainy River is once again fishable by boat. Anglers on both water bodies found some success over the weekend. Waterfowl training was attended in southeastern Minnesota. Violations encountered for the week included fishing without a valid license, operating an ATV on a state highway, insufficient number of PFDs on board watercraft and possession of marijuana.
CO Ryan Brown (Karlstad) continued to monitor ATV and what?s left of snowmobile activity in the area. Brown also attended training down at Whitewater State Park.
CO Jeremy Woinarowicz (Thief River Falls West) taught the law and ethics portion of the firearms safety class in Warren, responded to a call of an injured deer and investigated a gray wolf depredation.
CO Tony Elwell (Thief River Falls East) monitored ATV activity and conducted seasonal maintenance on equipment. Questions about the upcoming spring turkey season were also fielded.
CO Demosthenes Regas (Blackduck South) reports checking anglers on special regulation lakes throughout this past week. Time was spent issuing wildlife-possession permits, investigating TIP information and preparing for an upcoming ATV safety class/field day. Violations encountered and addressed this past week included ATV and snowmobile registration violations and angling license violations.
CO Nicholas Prachar (Blackduck North) followed up on fish houses and litter left on Upper Red Lake. Prachar worked with CO Pilot Tim Gray and they utilized a DNR Enforcement plane to observe the lake and surrounding area. Enforcement action was taken for leaving fish houses on the lake beyond the set deadline.
Warroad #1 vacant.
Warroad #2 vacant.
Baudette #1 vacant.
District 2 – Bemidji area
Last updated: 2022-04-04
CO Tom Hutchins (Crookston) reports assisting with a veterans fair at the Crookston Armory. Time was also spent checking anglers and ATV operators.
CO Brice Vollbrecht (Bemidji #1) monitored angling activity on area lakes. Complaints of dogs chasing deer were taken.
CO Al Peterson (Osage) attended annual in-service training and worked complaints of off-highway motorcycle road damage and trespassing.
CO Steve Chihak (Moorhead) spent the week working sport fishing, spring goose hunting and ATV enforcement. Time was also spent responding to miscellaneous wildlife-related calls.
CO Bill Landmark (Pelican Rapids) spent the week checking ice anglers and following up on open wetlands cases. The ice held up for another weekend of fishing and anglers had good success, but this week?s forecast could mean the end for the ice fishing season. Landmark also issued a permit for a road-killed otter and investigated a report of a number of snow geese found dead in a field. Several snow geese were collected by Wildlife staff for sampling.
Bagley vacant.
Bemidji #2 vacant.
District 3 – Fergus Falls area
Last updated: 2022-04-04
CO Andrew Goodman (Fergus Falls) monitored the light geese migration and lake activities throughout the week. Many birds facing little hunting pressure were observed in the far southwest area of the station. Goodman found ice conditions are generally unsafe as thickness and consistency are highly variable lake to lake and within each body of water. Additional time was spent speaking a firearms safety class in Ashby, responding to sick/injured-wildlife complaints, and preparing equipment for in-service training.
CO Tricia Plautz (Henning) assisted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with an illegal possession of a federally protected bird this week. Plautz monitored ice fishing activity, noticing a fast decline in ice conditions. Plautz checked ATV riders and fielded several calls about deer found dead on area properties, most likely due to winter mortality.
CO Shane Osborne (Evansville) checked area lakes for ice fishing activity and ice thickness. Area lakes are pulling away from shore and anglers should take safety precautions. A firearms safety class in Brandon was attended, with the laws and ethics talk given.
CO Mitch Lawler (Alexandria) reports a slower week around the station with fewer and fewer ice anglers out as ice conditions deteriorate. WMAs and WPAs were patrolled for illegal tree stands and blinds left in since deer hunting. Injured-animal calls were taken and a few spring beaver trappers were observed out and about.
CO Hanna Wood (Wheaton) spent the majority of the week attending waterfowl training at Whitewater State Park. The rest of the week was focused on angling and recreational vehicle enforcement. Wood also assisted area law enforcement on multiple crashes. She would like to remind people that the boundary for border waters and inland waters on the Mustinka River is the State Highway 117 bridge. South is border waters and open to all angling. Though the river is open, please use extra caution when launching and loading boats due to the access being covered with large ice chunks.
CO Emily Douvier (Morris) reports working fishing and recreational enforcement. Douvier attended Division training for waterfowl identification and enforcement methods. Commercial license checks were also completed.
CO Daniel Baumbarger (Glenwood) reports enforcement efforts for the week were focused on checking anglers and ATV operators, and monitoring spring fish run activity. Additional time was spent investigating a trapping complaint and a complaint of illegal materials being burned. Baumbarger prepared spring equipment for use.
Osakis vacant.
Elbow Lake vacant.
District 4 – Walker area
Last updated: 2022-04-04
CO Jordan Anderson (Wadena) attended training and spent time on snowmobile and fishing enforcement.
CO Adam Seifermann (Staples) reports checking ice anglers and attending training. Enforcement action consisted of a variety of angling and recreational vehicle violations.
CO Jacque Hughes (Longville) checked angling activity. She advises anglers to be cautious while traveling out on the ice. She also investigated a forestry harvest complaint.
CO Calie Kunst (Remer) attended training at duck school and spent time checking ATV riders and anglers throughout the week. Enforcement action was taken for operating an ATV without headlights, failure to transfer title and failure to display valid registration on an ATV.
CO Nick Baum (Park Rapids) attended training for waterfowl identification and enforcement. He patrolled area lakes for panfish fishing activity. Baum found anglers having varying success. Baum took enforcement action on various violations, including angling without a license and failure to display valid ATV registration. Baum wants to remind anglers to check ice conditions before venturing onto the ice.
CO Mark Mathy (Cass Lake) primarily checked anglers. Lake ice has held up this past week and anglers were rewarded with good catches of perch and sunfish. Forecasted rain and warmth may make it impossible to access the lakes soon as the shoreline ice starts to erode. Mathy also spent time working on a deer-related case from this past fall and a fishing TIP call. Enforcement action was taken for a snowmobile violation.
CO Patrick McGowan (Walker) patrolled Cass County lakes for late-season ice fishing activity. He also attended Division trainings. Enforcement action was taken for numerous violations.
ATV rec officer vacant.
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