Conservation Officer Report | Sports & Recreation

The Minnesota DNR provided the following summaries of last week's activities by Conservation Officers

CO Kipp Duncan (Duluth) worked area ski and snowmobile trails. North Shore snowmobile trail was worked with focus on speed enforcement. Anglers were checked along north shore and inland lakes. Ice houses checked and marked in preparation of removal dates. Officer Duncan followed up on a trapping complaint.

CO Randy Hanzal (Duluth) followed up on a few cases left over from last year’s deer season. Local snowmobile trials are reportedly in very good shape due to the recent snows. Angling seems to have slowed on most area lakes. The lack of fishing activity was blamed by a couple of anglers as the reason they decided to smoke marijuana. Unfortunately, the smell was so strong that the officer smelled it as he was passing by on a snowmobile and followed his nose to the violators. Several boreal owls have been found dead due to the difficult winter and turned over to be used as an educational tool at various schools.

Sgt. Keith Olson (Lake Superior Marine Unit) checked anglers along the North Shore and fielded calls for a boreal owl and fisher found along the roadways.

CO Matt Miller (Lake Superior Marine Unit) checked shore anglers on Superior and monitored snowmobile activity in the Two Harbors and Duluth area. Officers Miller and Murray responded to a late-evening snowmobile crash and assisted with transporting EMS and rescue personnel to the crash site. The rider was found to have multiple broken bones but luckily survived his cold weather rescue. Alcohol and speed were found to be among the contributing factors in the crash. Cross country ski passes were checked in the Duluth area, with an unfortunately high violation rate found among skiers on grant-in-aid trails. Enforcement action taken for ski and snowmobile violations.

CO Troy Ter Meer (Lake Superior Marine Unit) checked anglers on Superior Bay, St. Louis River, and Lake Superior. He also worked the snowmobile trails. An investigation was completed along with the reports. He attended a meeting and transferred some items to St. Paul for auction. Enforcement action taken for angling, snowmobiling, and controlled substance violations.