District 1 – Baudette area
Last updated: 2024-03-25
CO Ben Huener (Roseau) spent the week instructing at the Waterfowl Enforcement School at Whitewater State Park.
CO Tony Hams (Warroad North) spent the week following up on various complaints and assisting local agencies. Violations encountered were expired registration, no insurance, and driving after revocation.
CO Coby Fontes (Warroad South) spent the week patrolling beautiful and scenic Lake of the Woods. Fontes reports that ice conditions in the area are highly variable, with accesses in the area having deteriorating ice. The area near Elm Point has several wide cracks and areas of open water (large enough for waterfowl). However, the tip-up northern pike anglers in that area reported a lot of success. Fontes talked with a group that had a dandy 44-inch northern pike on the ice that was going to be mounted! Fontes also attended a meeting with some of his partners with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Enforcement action was taken throughout the week for tip-ups being too far away, extra line use, and ATV registration concerns. Fontes would like to remind folks that they have to remain within 200 feet of tip-ups, as he is frequently seeing tip-ups that are well in excess of double that distance.
CO Jamus Veit (Baudette East) attended waterfowl training at Whitewater State Park. Time was also spent fielding calls pertaining to angling and ice conditions.
CO Nicholas Prachar (Baudette West) reports deteriorating ice conditions. Prachar responded with a Lake of the Woods County deputy to a call of an ATV pulling a trailer that went through the ice on the Rainy River near Wheeler?s Point. When law enforcement arrived, all seven people were standing on the ice and told to walk to shore. The ice thickness varied greatly due to the current and the ATV broke through 3 inches of ice. The ATV was hung up on the ice and visible but sank a short while later.
CO Sarah Jahn (Thief River Falls East) spent time attending various trainings and handling wildlife-related complaints. A case was started regarding an individual taking protected birds.
CO Nick Bruesewitz (Karlstad) participated this week in the Division?s ?Duck School,? where officers are educated in duck identification, waterfowl regulations, and enforcement techniques. Officers are also given the chance to practice operating pro-drive watercraft.
CO Demosthenes Regas (Blackduck South) reports monitoring area lakes for angling activity and spring beaver-trapping activity. Time was spent monitoring area trails for recreational vehicle activity, working on a big-game investigation, and investigating a wildfire that burned approximately 20 acres, a barn, other outbuildings and some vehicles. The wildfire investigation is ongoing.
Blackduck North vacant.
District 2 – Bemidji area
Last updated: 2024-03-25
CO Tom Hutchins (Crookston) reports working angling enforcement this week. Time was further spent working on big-game-related cases from the 2023 deer season. Various wildlife-related calls were also taken.
CO Brice Vollbrecht (Bemidji #1) patrolled area forest roads and ATV trails. Activity has been limited due to the weather conditions. He continued work on an ongoing big-game case and completed taxidermy inspections.
CO Andrew Goodman (Perham) worked spring beaver-trapping activity and a possible livestock depredation complaint this week. Just as wildlife activity began presenting signs of spring, the first snow storm of the year moved in. Questions regarding snowmobile trails were frequent over the weekend. Although grant-in-aid snowmobile trails are open through April 1each year, Goodman asks snowmobilers to use sound judgement before making riding plans. Lakes, ponds and wetlands are not frozen over and there is not snowpack to reduce ground cover disturbances and erosion.
CO Jake Swedberg (Detroit Lakes) spent the week following up on burning complaints and other fire-related incidents around the county.
CO Jordan Anderson (Osage) patrolled area forest roads which are currently closed. A few fires were responded to, and time was spent on other recreational vehicle enforcement.
CO Bill Landmark (Moorhead) spent the week conducting commercial license checks and following up on new and ongoing wetland violations.
CO Angie Warren (Mahnomen) patrolled area trails and forest roads for ATV and off-road vehicle activity. Wildlife Management Areas and Waterfowl Production Areas were monitored and a fire in a WMA was responded to. Warren worked with wildlife managers on open complaints, including a possible injured moose and a complaint of dogs being killed by a gray wolf. Area streams and rivers were monitored for the upcoming fish run and assistance was provided to local police with a vehicle off the road.
CO Brady Manteufel (Bagley) attended Waterfowl School at Whitewater State Park, addressed illegal fires and other burning related calls, and assisted with a youth firearms safety class.
Pelican Rapids vacant.
District 3 – Fergus Falls area
Last updated: 2024-03-25
CO Hanna Wood (Fergus Falls) attended meetings this week, assisted at Camp Ripley, worked on equipment maintenance and spoke at a firearms safety class. Ongoing investigations from deer season were worked, and she introduced herself to the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association?s Fergus Falls Chapter during their annual banquet.
CO Tricia Plautz (Henning) and Regional Training Officer Greg Oldakowski presented an award to a local firearms safety instructor for his 40 years of dedicated volunteer service for the safety education section. Gerry Lipinski, of Hewitt, was presented his award at a local firearms safety class. Congratulations, Gerry! Fishing activity was monitored with phone calls taken regarding dead and injured animals. A trapping complaint was investigated as well.
CO Ryan Brown (Elbow Lake) continued to monitor ATV and angling activity. Time was also spent with miscellaneous-related animal calls and wetland investigations.
CO Shane Osborne (Evansville) checked anglers, ATV riders and illegal burning activity. A firearms safety class in Brandon was attended with the laws and ethics portion given to 21 students. Some small bodies of water have frozen over in the area but there is not enough ice for people to venture out.
CO Felicia Znajda (Osakis) spent her time this week following up on and finishing past cases and was presented with new cases, including garbage dumping on public lands and wounded eagles. Znajda encountered some ATV activity earlier in the week and picked up incidentally caught animals from beaver trappers later in the week. Questionable weather over the weekend kept most people inside.
CO Daniel Baumbarger (Glenwood) reports enforcement efforts for the week were concentrated on checking shore anglers and beaver trappers and following up on a depredation complaint. Additional time was spent attending training and setting up a firearms safety class. Several calls were fielded about the upcoming turkey season and wildlife-related complaints.
Alexandria vacant.
Wheaton vacant.
District 4 – Walker area
Last updated: 2024-03-25
CO Mark Mathy (Cass Lake) found it to be a quiet week as the lakes are currently a mix of water and ice. Closed state forest roads and trails were monitored and assistance was provided to the State Patrol on an incident. Mathy also spent time maintaining station equipment.
CO Landyn Saewert (Wadena) spent time monitoring ATV activity. The trails at the Huntersville State Forest were in fair condition prior to the recent snowfall. Squad maintenance was completed. Saewert spent four days at the Whitewater State Park for Duck School.
CO Michael Cross (Lake George) worked trapping, conducted equipment maintenance, and worked early season angling on the Rainy River. Cross saw good success for anglers, but conditions remained tough with the cold and access was limited as ice blew into multiple accesses. Cross additionally responded to a rollover car accident where he assisted in providing emergency medical care to the victim of the accident.
CO Patrick McGowan (Walker) patrolled for ATV and trapping activity throughout the week. Numerous forest roads are now closed due to the spring thaw, and motorists are reminded to stay off those areas. McGowan also attended a Leech Lake Chamber of Commerce event. Enforcement action was taken for several ATV violations.
CO Adam Seifermann (Staples) reports attending monthly K9 training at Camp Ripley with his K9 partner Jet. He also reports conducting spring equipment maintenance, checking angling activity and removing abandoned property from public lands.
CO Jacque Johnson (Longville) attended a career fair. She also responded to a car accident and multiple reports of accidentally caught otters.
ATV rec officer vacant.
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