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District 6 - Two Harbors
CO Sean Williams (Ely #1) reports angling activity slowed considerably on local lakes outside of the BWCA. Success, however, was overall good and seemed to only improve into the weekend. Violations included angling without a license, children under 10 not wearing a life jacket on a watercraft, and no throwable PFD onboard a watercraft.
CO Brent Ihnen (Ely #2) spent the week checking anglers and watercraft operators in his station. He also patrolled forATVactivity.Additionaltime was spent monitoring AIS compliance at area public water accesses.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Grand Marais) spent the week checking anglers on area lakes, where some nice were seen in the bag. Time was spent checking ATV complaint areas. He also followed up on past investigations.
CO Hudson Ledeen (Hovland) spent the week patrolling boating and angling activities. Ledeen also assisted with the firearms safety field day for the Cook County sixth-grade class. People are reminded to put their birdfeeders away, as this is the time of year when they turn into bear feeders.
CO Anthony Bermel (Babbitt) worked an extended BWCAW patrol with CO Lerchen and worked with CO IhnenintheBWCAWearlyintheweek. Fishing has been relatively slow. Enforcement action was taken for numerous instances of cans and glass in the BWCAW, taking trout without a stamp, no fishing license, untagged crayfish traps, and unregistered canoes. Caution with fires is urged, as it remains extremely dry in the woods.
CO Megan Franzen (Silver Bay) spent the week monitoring ATV and angling activity. Time was also spent responding to vehicle accidents and wildlife-related calls. Smoke from Canadian wildfires was thick in the later part of the week, but nice weather and clear skies on the weekend brought a fair amount of activity to the area.
CO Trent Anderson (Tofte) reports the bugs have arrived in the areafor the summer. Focus was placed on angling, boating, and ATV activity for the week. TimewasspentinstructingattheCook County youth firearms safety field day. Enforcement action was taken for various angling and boating registrationrelated violations.
District 5 - Eveleth area
CO Darrin Kittelson (International Falls #1) reports fishing, boating, and ATV activity were the main activities that were monitored throughout the week. People are reminded that burning restrictions are in place, so please use caution with campfires.
CO Curtis Simonson (International Falls #2) reports working area lakes, rivers, and trails this past week. Anglers reported having some success earlier in the week. Trails and forest roadsremainingoodshape,besidesthe dry and dusty conditions. Enforcement action taken this past week was taken forbeingoverlimitonsmallmouthbass.
CO John Slatinski IV (Ray) reports anglers were out in numbers the past week on area lakes. The weather has been conducive to people spending extended time in the boat. The fish seem to be inconsistent as far as structure and depth. Boating safety equipment was lacking on many boats contacted this past weekend. Campground use has increased along with complaints of campers not being considerate of their neighbors. Bear sighting have been heard, indicating it is time to leave bird feeders empty and remove any food sources for bears where you do not want them to visit.
CO Troy Fondie (Orr) reports monitoring area lakes and forest roads. Publicaccesssiteswerechecked.Equipment was worked on, and administrative tasks were completed.
CO Sean Cannon (Cook) spent most of the week checking anglers and monitoring boating activity. The bite continues to be up and down, with most anglers struggling to find many fish willing to bite. That trend will probably continue with the mayfly hatch. Time was also spent monitoring ATV activity and responding to wildliferelated calls. Violations encountered this week included fishing without a license, possessing overlimits of fish, watercraft registration issues, and no Type IV (throwable) floatation device.
CO Aaron Larson (Tower) spent time working wolf depredations, ATV, and angling enforcement. Larson also spenttimeassistingotheragencieswith
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medicals. He also spent time working a trapping case.
CO Marc Johnson (Hibbing) spent the week at Camp Ripley training the current DNR Academy cadets in defensive tactics and firearms. In addition, time was also spent presenting at two firearms safety classes in Hibbing and maintaining station equipment.
CO Shane Zavodnik (Virginia) reports a busy week checking anglers on the water, patrolling for ATV activity, and handling an ATV trespass complaint. Additional time was spent working on planning for CO Academy training and investigating a fish overlimit. Conditions remain extremely dry around the area.
CO Duke Broughten (Aurora) spent the week monitoring fishing, boating, and ATV activity. Outdoor recreational activity was lower than past weeks. Anglers reported limited success. Broughten also investigated reports of wetland violations and trespass.
District 7 - Grand Rapids area
CO Vinny Brown (Northome) answered wildlife-related calls, checked anglers, and patrolled lakes making boat safety checks. Time was spent completingtrainingandconductingfollow up on ongoing cases. Enforcement action was taken for aquatic invasive species-related violations, fishing license violations, boat registration violations, no life jackets, and possession of walleyes within the protected slot.
CO Mike Fairbanks (Deer River) checked anglers, monitored OHV activity, and responded to nuisance-animal complaints. Fairbanks and his K9 partner Fennec also attended provided a K9 demonstration and searched for evidence in an ongoing investigation. Enforcement action was taken for license issues and watercraft equipment violations.
COJaysonHansen(Bigfork)worked ATV riders, boaters, and anglers. He patrolled area trails and campgrounds. Numerous game and fish-related questions were answered. He also responded to wildlife-related complaints.
CO Thomas Sutherland (Grand Rapids) worked angling and ATV activity in the area. Sutherland took enforcement action for operating an unregistered ATV, operating an unregistered offhighway LAKE
motorcycle, and operating a dirt bike in the road-right of way. Sutherland also noted the walleye bite locally is getting better by the day.
CO Jimmy Van Asch (Pengilly) reports working angling, boating, ATV, and AIS enforcement activities throughout the surrounding areas. Van Asch also instructed at training held at Camp Ripley.
CO Taylor Hochstein (Hill City) continued to focus on monitoring boating, fishing, and ATV-related activities. Fishingintheareacontinuestobegood for several different species. As the water warms, more and more people are seen doing watersports and operating personal watercraft.
CO Brian Holt (Grand Rapids) checked anglers and monitored AIS compliance during the previous week. Time was also spent patrolling ATV trails and following up on TIP complaints. Enforcement activity involved angling license violations and fishing in closed areas.
Aviation Section
CO Pilot Jason Jensen (Brainerd) reports flying a creel survey at Rainy Lake and conducting infrared mapping of the large fires in northeastern Minnesota. Aquatic plant management violations were forwarded to local officers and anglers were checked from the floatplane.
CO Pilot Tim Gray (Bemidji) finished the waterfowl survey and used some time for training on higher wind landings.
CO Pilot Ryan Hanna (Grand Rapids) patrolled the Rainy Lakes area for boating activity. Hanna was also requested by DNR personnel for aerial photos of a trout stream.
CO Pilot Charles Scott (Brainerd) assisted with ferrying aircraft for unforeseen maintenance issues. Scott also conducted ongoing training flights with unit pilots.
NR Pilot Gracie Zeller (Brainerd) installed the fish stocking platform in the helicopter and used it to stock several remote northern lakes.
