District 6 - Two Harbors
CO Sean Williams (Ely 1) reports: anglingandATV activity seemed lower over the weekend as very warm temperatures reachedtheElyarea.Alarge childrens fishing derby was attended, where he and CO Ihnen taught water safety topics to 6-11 year olds. Violations included: fail to display current ATV registration, failure to transfer ATV registration, and angling with no license in possession.
CO Brent Ihnen (Ely 2) focused his time this week checking anglers and watercraftoperators.OfficerIhnenalso patrolled for ATV and ORV activity. Additional time was spent monitoring AIScomplianceatareapublicaccesses.
CO Anthony Bermel (Babbitt) reports patrolling ATV trails, monitoring water accesses, and checking anglers. Enforcement action was taken for youthATVpassengerunder18without a helmet. Lake and river water levels are full again after several rainstorms came through the area. Surprisingly, the bugs are not bad at this point.
CO Megan Franzen (Silver Bay) spenttheweekmonitoringanglingand ATV activity around the area. Time was also spent responding to wildlife related calls and planning a firearm safety class to be held in August. Anglers reported varied success across the area, and several moose have been sighted near Isabella.
CO Trent Anderson (Tofte) focused on angling enforcement for the week. Ride along activities were completed with students interested in natural resource law enforcement. Anglers reported a slower bite with a couple smallmouth being seen in livewells. Wildlife related calls were answered. As a reminder, please do not feed injured or abandoned wildlife; let nature take its course.
District 5 - Eveleth area
CO Darrin Kittelson (Int’l Falls #1) reports the week was spent at Camp Ripley instructing new COs in Emergency Vehicle Operations and recreational vehicle enforcement. Fishing enforcement and a search and rescue incident for lost individual finished out the weeks activities.
CO Curtis Simonson (Int’l Falls #2) reports working area lakes and rivers this past week. Anglers reported having some success on Rainy Lake. Time was also spent assisting neighboring agencies with locating a missing person. Enforcement action taken this past week was for being in possession of illegal length walleye.
CO John Slatinski IV (Ray) Angling reports have revealed an uptick in success, although several complaints of fish that were too big and outside a harvestable size. Evidence of bug hatches was visible on the water which has caused anglers to change their approach. Boating safety equipment deficiencies continue to be noted and relatively common. Aquatic invasive species education remains a priority. Assistance to neighboring agencies was provided.
CO Troy Fondie (Orr) reports monitoring area lakes for boating and angling activity, fishing remains overall poor. Area forest roads and public sites access continue to be checked. CO Fondie addressed numerous bear sightings over the week. Other time was spent working on equipment and completing administrative tasks.
CO Sean Cannon (Cook) spent most of the week checking anglers and monitoring boating activity. The bite continues to be slow, but activity on Vermilion was way up over the weekend, with the extreme heat warming up the water quickly, and bringing many people out to enjoy the lake. Time was also spent monitoring ATV activity, along with attending training. A call of a disabled boat on Vermilion was responded to, and tow was given back to the landing for the individuals who were stranded. Enforcement action taken this week included: No angling license, ORV on roadway, PWC operating within 150’ of shore and motorboat exhaust noise violations.
CO Aaron Larson (Tower) worked primarily angling and ATV enforcement. He spent time checking anglers on several smaller lakes. Violations were related to registration, life jackets, and also state park related violations.
CO Marc Johnson (Hibbing) p r i marily worked angling and ATV enforcement. In addition, time was spent training at Camp Ripley and investigating aTIPcomplaintandwetlandsviolation complaint.Violationsencountered
PARK
included taking animals while licenses are revoked, angling w/out a license, allowingillegal operationofOHM/ATV, and placing fill in a wetland.
CO Shane Zavodnik (Virginia) time was spent teaching the academy as an EVOC instructor at Camp Ripley over the week. Additional time was spent working ATV traffic.
CO Duke Broughten (Aurora) spent the week monitoring fishing, boating, and ATV activity. Anglers reported limited success. ATV and boating activity was unusually low this week. CO Broughten also fielded calls regarding injured animals, minnow harvesting, and boating safety.
District 7 - Grand Rapids area
CO Vinny Brown (Northome) checked anglers, worked aquatic invasive species enforcement, and monitored ORV activities. Numerous wildlife related calls were taken. Calls of illegally killed wildlife were investigated.
COJaysonHansen(Bigfork)Worked ATV’s, boating, and fishing activities. He patrolled area trails and campgrounds. Numerous game and fish questions were answered. He also responded towildlife-relatedcomplaints.
CO Mike Fairbanks (Deer River) checked anglers, monitored OHV activity, instructed EVOC at the academy and assisted in clearing roadways after the recent storms. CO Fairbanks and his K9 partner Fennec also attended monthly K9 unit training, assisted with high risk stops at the academy and provided a meet and greet at an area event. Enforcement action was taken for license issues and registration violations on water craft’s and OHV’s.
CO Thomas Sutherland (Grand Rapids) worked boating and angling activity over the past week. Multiple boats were checked and safety equipment w as l ooked o ver. C ompliance with safety laws has been very good in the area with almost all boats having the required amount of lifejackets and throwables. Jet-ski activity has increased with the warm weather and reminder goes out about boating too close to other watercraft when operating these machines.
CO Taylor Hochstein (Hill City) spent time checking anglers and monitoring LAKE
boating activity. Time was also spent in the metro at a personal watercraft training. Various wildlife related calls werefielded,andaCease-and-Desistorder wasissuedforashorelineviolation.
CO Brian Holt (Grand Rapids) worked boating safety and angling activitythroughoutthepreviousweek. Time was also spent following up on TIP calls and calls involving dangerous jet ski operation. Other complaints received involved injured animals and suspected AIS violations. Enforcement action involved angling license violations.
Aviation Section
CO Pilot Jason Jensen (Brainerd) flew two separate storm damage assessment flights to assist the NWS and inspect DNR infrastructure for damage. APM and public water potential violations were sent to local officers for review.
CO Pilot Charles Scott (Brainerd) Scott started yearly sketch mapping flights. Proficiency flight with CO pilot Gray was completed.
CO Pilot Ryan Hanna (Grand Rapids) was requested as aerial support in locating a missing person. CO Hanna responded but prior to arrival, he was cancelled as the subject had been located.
CO Pilot Tim Gray (Bemidji) flew a survey flight for fisheries and checked outinBrainerdbasedCessna185. Plus, assisted D2 with the FAS field day in the New York Mills area and with clean up after a severe wind in the Bemidji area.
NR Pilot Gracie Zeller (Brainerd) flew a helicopter training flight and began making preparations for the upcoming invasive cattail eradication project.
Enforcement Education
Please check the DNR website at www.mndnr.gov for a current class listing of all DNR Enforcement Education Courses and instructor training sessions.
If you missed a fall class and are over 18, check online for the online course information. (It is also at www. mndnr.gov.)
Please check the DNR website www. mndnr.gov for a current class listing of all DNR Enforcement Youth and Adult Snowmobile Safety Courses and instructor training sessions.
