District 1 – Baudette area
Last updated: 2026-04-13
CO Nick Bruesewitz (Karlstad) spent the week preparing for the upcoming turkey season. Nuisance-animal calls were handled throughout the week.
CO Tony Hams (Warroad North) spent the week following up with various complaints and attending annual training at Camp Ripley.
CO Coby Fontes (Warroad South) spent the week patrolling area public lands and assisting with various wildlife-related complaints. Enforcement action was taken for juveniles on an ATV without helmets, transporting a loaded gun, and several road vehicle violations.
CO Nicholas Prachar (Baudette #1) reports significant boating and angling activity on the Rainy River. Time was spent working angling and boat safety. Enforcement action was taken for no angling license in possession, exhibition driving, and operating an ATV on a state highway.
CO Bobby Stringer (Thief River Falls West) reports receding water levels and cleared debris at the Oslo access along the Red River. Additional high water is noted below the Thief River Falls Municipal Dam, which is wide open. Recreational ATVs have increased throughout the area as the snowpack continues to erode. Stringer also attended BCA training in St. Paul and conducted a commercial investigation. Enforcement actions for the week included angling for northern pike during a closed season and multiple ATV infractions.
CO Sarah Jahn (Thief River Falls East) handled a wolf-depredation call early in the week. Assistance was given by transporting a deceased moose to Detroit Lakes and given to animal health to be necropsied. A dumping violation is being investigated.
Baudette East – vacant.
Blackduck South – vacant.
Blackduck North – vacant.
District 2 – Bemidji area
Last updated: 2026-04-13
CO Jamus Veit (Bemidji #1) worked stream trout opener, with many anglers having success. Time was also spent patrolling closed forest roads and ATV trails, handling trapping and angling complaints, and assisting with annual training at Camp Ripley.
CO Andrew Goodman (Perham) conducted deer-hunting license violation investigations and patrolled the area for outdoor recreation activities. Burning restrictions remain in place, with snow cover now absent from the landscape. Goodman spoke at a firearms safety class and prepared for upcoming youth outreach events.
CO Jake Swedberg (Detroit Lakes) attended annual training with other members of the DNR. Other time was spent training with the DNR K9 team and checking area anglers, as the ice continued to deteriorate.
CO Angela Warren (Mahnomen) monitored ice breakup and streams for upcoming fish-run activity. Waterfowl production areas and wildlife management areas were patrolled. ATV activity was worked, and regulation-related questions were answered. Trails were monitored for snowmobile activity until warmer weather melted the recent snow.
CO Bill Landmark (Moorhead) spent the week working on deer-season investigations and following up on commercial leeching complaints. Follow up was conducted on reports of feeding deer in a county with a deer feeding ban. Norman County and Clay County residents are reminded that they cannot intentionally feed deer and that bird feeders must be at least 6 feet above the ground. Enforcement action was taken for dogs chasing deer and feeding deer in a deer-feeding ban area.
CO Grey Corbus (Pelican Rapids) spent the week at annual in-service training. The remainder of the time was spent following up on deer-season investigations and preparing for trout opener and turkey season.
CO Brady Manteufel (Bagley) checked trout anglers on the Clearwater River for the stream trout opener. Fair success was noted on spinners and beaded nymphs. Anglers were in good compliance with having licenses and trout stamps. Public accesses and lands were checked, and good turkey activity was observed all around before the spring season kicks off this week. Questions were also answered on beavers and coyotes.
CO Ryan Schaefer (Bemidji #2) spent this past week attending annual in-service training at Camp Ripley. Schaefer also fielded several wildlife-related questions from the public.
Osage – vacant.
District 3 – Fergus Falls area
Last updated: 2026-04-13
CO Tricia Plautz (Henning) followed up on complaints resulting in enforcement action on deer-season violations, attended annual training, and worked ATV enforcement in the area. Spring turkey hunting questions were answered, as were sucker-spearing related inquiries. A firearms safety talk was presented as well.
CO Ryan Brown (Elbow Lake) reports some early boat activity on area waters. Fishing success is low, according to anglers. Trapping and hunting cases from recent past seasons were worked and annual training was completed.
CO Shane Osborne (Evansville) checked area lakes and streams for spring spawn activity. Several lakes are free of ice in the area, and several others will be ice free this week. ATV enforcement was conducted.
CO Jake Homan (Alexandria) spent the week attending in-service training. Additional time was spent following up on ongoing cases, ATV enforcement, and fishing enforcement.
CO Felicia Znajda (Osakis) reports a very busy weekend checking many trout anglers. Ab outstanding number of young anglers were enjoying the creek, catching numerous rainbow with the occasional brown trout. The count of fish in the buckets was greater on Saturday than Sunday. She worked on multiple reports of anglers targeting trout prior to the season. Znajda also attended annual training and patrolled trapping activity.
CO Curtis Jepson (Wheaton) spent the week checking area anglers and patrolling public lands. He’s seeing more boats on Lake Traverse, with docks installed at all public accesses. Most anglers report a slow bite. Border state river levels are lower than normal. He also followed up on various complaints.
CO Emily Douvier (Morris) reports working on various tasks throughout the week. Help was provided to Camp Ripley and calls were fielded regarding potential big-game and wetland violations.
CO Andrew Ladzinski (Glenwood) spent time on trapping and recreational vehicle enforcement. He attended training at Camp Ripley. Equipment maintenance was performed.
District 4 – Walker area
Last updated: 2026-04-13
CO Nick Baum (Park Rapids) patrolled the local area for angling activity and followed up on some big-game cases from the fall. Baum took enforcement action on big-game violations. He wants to remind folks that forest roads are closed for spring thaw.
CO Landyn Saewert (Wadena) spent a majority of the week at Camp Ripley conducting annual training. Saewert also gave a presentation on the duties of a conservation officer at the Wadena School for approximately 30 students.
CO Patrick McGowan (Cass Lake) attended annual training at Camp Ripley. McGowan also patrolled the Cass Lake area for ATV and fishing activity. McGowan also spent time closing out cases from this past fall and winter.
CO Jack Lien (Walker) patrolled his area and saw a variety of late-ice anglers, spring beaver trappers, and ATV riders. Lien closed a civil deer-dumping case that was brought to his attention by a landowner in February. The investigation led to enforcement action being taken on a hunter who had not registered their 2025 deer found in that carcass pile. Additionally, Lien assisted a neighboring CO with a bear-registration violation as well.
CO Corey Sura (Remer) attended annual training at Camp Ripley. Sura patrolled the Rainy River. Overall, angling was still on the slower side for both walleyes and sturgeon. Enforcement action was taken for expired watercraft registration and safety equipment violations.
CO Levi Brown (Staples) attended training this week at Camp Ripley. Over the weekend, Brown focused on ATV and Forestry enforcement. Brown took enforcement action for driving on closed state forest roads.
ATV rec officer – vacant.
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