District 1 – Baudette area
Last updated: 2021-07-12
CO Ben Huener (Roseau) attended the funeral for retired Conservation Officer Joyce Kuske.
CO Aaron Larson (Baudette West) worked primarily angling and AIS enforcement. Anglers on Lake of the Woods were finding mixed success for fish under the slot limit. Many anglers found fairly good success catching walleyes in or above the slot. Larson spent time near Upper Red Lake patrolling for AIS violations. Compliance was excellent.
CO Corey Sura (Baudette East) spent time on ATV enforcement as well checking anglers on Upper Red Lake, Rainy River, Lake of the Woods, and at the Northwest Angle. Violations encountered include possession of illegal-length walleyes, youth under the age of 10 not wearing life jackets when required, possession of a small amount of marijuana and operating a Class II ATV on a state highway.
CO Ryan Brown (Karlstad) assisted county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies with a homicide investigation this past week. He also worked fishing and ATV activity in the surrounding area. He contacted a few groups of kayakers taking day trips down the river, with reports of good fishing.
CO Tony Elwell (Thief River Falls East) conducted patrols for ATV and angling activity this week. He also handled a nuisance-bear complaint. Additionally, assistance was given to local law enforcement agencies involving a homicide investigation. Violations encountered included failure to obtain a burning permit, angling without a valid license, no angling license in possession and no helmets on ATV passengers under 18 years of age.
CO Demosthenes Regas (Blackduck South) reports working ATV and AIS enforcement throughout the station. He also monitored boating and angling activity on special regulation lakes. Time was spent handling reports of bear encounters and patrolling area recreational vehicle trails. Regas reports boating safety equipment topped the list of violations encountered and addressed this past week.
CO Nicholas Prachar (Blackduck North) reports ATV and boating activity have been the main focuses recently. Enforcement action was taken on numerous ATV violations and for allowing illegal operation of off-highway motorcycles by juveniles.
District 2 – Bemidji area
Last updated: 2021-07-12
CO Tom Hutchins (Crookston) reports checking anglers and watercraft operators. Time was also spent checking various TIP-related calls.
CO Brice Vollbrecht (Bemidji #1) monitored boating and angling activity on area lakes.
CO Chris Vinton (Perham) reports patrolling area lakes and public accesses for angling, boating and AIS enforcement. A report of a possible infested water was passed on to the Division of Ecological and Water Resources, and a report of a bald eagle, with something wrapped on its leg, was fielded. The eagle was trying to carry off a large piece of carrion and flew away when Vinton arrived. Questions were answered about legal dock and lift placement now that lake water levels have fallen due to the lack of rain. ATV-operation violations were reported.
CO Jake Swedberg (Detroit Lakes) spent the week following up on cases from the busy Fourth of July weekend and patrolling area lakes for the beginning of Detroit Lakes Water Carnival. Time was also spent responding to nuisance-bear complaints and answering questions about juvenile boat operations.
CO Al Peterson (Osage) worked ongoing cases and handled new violations of unauthorized aquatic plant removal. He also recovered a dead loon, for examination, to determine cause of death.
CO Steve Chihak (Moorhead) spent the week working sport fishing, AIS and ATV enforcement. A wolf-depredation complaint was investigated. Time was also spent responding to miscellaneous wildlife-related calls.
CO Angie Warren (Mahnomen) worked angling, leeching and boating activity on area lakes. AIS-compliance checks were performed. ATV and off-road vehicle activity were also monitored. Calls were received regarding a juvenile eagle with twine on its leg, an injured raccoon, and a deceased eagle, which hit a power line.
CO Bill Landmark (Pelican Rapids) spent the week working angling and boat and water safety in the Pelican Rapids station. Time was also spent following up with aquatic vegetation, AIS complaints, and attending the funeral of retired CO Joyce Kuske. Anglers are finding fish mostly cooperative, though the bite has started to slow a little bit. Calls from the public included reports of potential vegetation violations, questions about boat registration, and questions about bowfishing. Enforcement action was taken for exceeding the speed limit within a state park and angling without a license in possession.
District 3 – Fergus Falls area
Last updated: 2021-07-12
CO Troy Richards (Fergus Falls) reports lakes got back to a more normal level of recreational use after the holiday weekend and cooler weather. Fishing continues to be decent for multiple species. Richards, along with COs Plautz and Wood, hosted a youth ATV safety class in Fergus Falls over the weekend.
CO Tricia Plautz (Henning) worked boat and water, AIS and fishing enforcement throughout the week and weekend. Plautz assisted a neighboring officer with an ATV safety class. Plautz attended the funeral for retired Conservation Officer Joyce Kuske and is working on several nuisance-animal complaints.
CO Shane Osbourne (Evansville) checked boaters, anglers and ATV riders. The annual meeting for the Red Rock Lakeshore Association was attended and numerous questions were answered. When checking boaters, life jacket violations are still too high. Please have the right number of life jackets on your boat.
CO Mitch Lawler (Alexandria) monitored area lakes and rivers this week with recreation levels still high after the holiday weekend. Lots of anglers were checked. Most were in compliance but a few were issued citations for no angling license. A boat operator was arrested for BWI while being found over the legal limit. After the arrest, his seven passengers were safely escorted back to shore and everybody made it off the water safely.
CO Hannah Wood (Wheaton) spent the past week focused on angling, boating safety and other recreational vehicle enforcement. She assisted another local CO with an ATV safety class in Fergus Falls and issued minnow permits. Wood and CO Leeb encountered several collector boats on the Alexandria chain for a boat parade and noticed most of the boats did not have any registration displayed. The officers remind boat owners that this type of boat still requires the registration to be displayed while on the water. If the boat was made before 1959, the registration numbers and sticker can be displayed on a detachable board, but must still be displayed while on the water. Enforcement encounters for the week included failure to transfer title, operating without current registration, failure to display registration, angling without a fishing license, under 18 without a helmet on an ATV and no throwable PFD on board watercraft.
CO Emily Douvier (Morris) reports working fishing and boating enforcement throughout the week. Enforcement action taken included fishing without a fishing license in possession, no throwable flotation device on board a watercraft and failure to display current registration.
District 4 – Walker area
Last updated: 2021-07-12
CO Adam Seifermann (Staples) reports focusing enforcement efforts on angling, boater safety and ATV activity. He also reports assisting other agencies and attending the funeral for retired Conservation Officer Joyce Kuske. Preliminary efforts have begun on several public waters/wetland complaints.
CO Jordan Anderson (Wadena) spent time on the ATV and in the boat over the week. Equipment maintenance was completed, and an alcohol-related ATV crash was investigated.
CO Jacque Hughes (Longville) continued checking angling, boating, and ATV activity. She also spoke at a firearms safety class.
CO Patrick McGowan (Walker) patrolled Cass and Crow Wing county lakes for angling and boating activity. McGowan also submitted reports to the county attorney?s office for charging and responded to TIP calls. Enforcement action was taken for numerous boating and angling violations.
CO Nick Baum (Park Rapids) patrolled for recreational vehicles, watercraft, and fishing activity. Baum took enforcement action for multiple violations ranging from no license in possession, failure to display registration, no ATV headlights, failure to display ATV registration, allowing illegal operation of ATVs by youths, ATV operation on the public road right-of-way prohibited, and a limited license violation. Baum investigated aquatic plant violations on area lakes. Baum reminds boaters to check for required safety equipment before launching their watercraft.
CO Calie Kunst (Remer) spent time checking anglers and boaters throughout the week. Multiple contacts were made and various violations were found, including fishing without a license, operating unregistered watercrafts and failure to display valid registration on ATVs.
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