District 6 - Two Harbors
CO Sean Williams (Ely 1) reports: warm and generally dry weather dominated the week into the fourth of July weekend. Heavy recreational watercraft use was seen as well as angling activity. Violation included: no lifesaving device on board awatercraft, fail to display current watercraft registration, and angling without a license in possession.
CO Brent Ihnen (Ely 2) spent the week checking anglers and watercraft operators.OfficerIhnenalsofocusedon patrolling for ATV and ORV activity. Additional time was spent monitoring AIS compliance near area lakes and at public water accesses.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Grand Marais) worked the busy holiday weekend with area officers. Time was spent in the BWCAW and on area lakes. Enforcement action was taken for angling, BWCAW and boating violations.
CO Hudson Ledeen (Hovland) spent the holiday weekend working the waters, woods, and trails. Many people were visiting the area and taking advantage of all the recreation opportunities the North Shore has to offer. Enforcement action was taken for angling, boating, ATV, and OHM violations.
CO Anthony Bermel (Babbitt) worked lots of boating and fishing enforcement over the past week and the busy 4th of July weekend. Time was spent on Lake Vermilion with CO Larson one day, with the remaining time spent of station lakes and ATV trails. Enforcement action included: PFD violations, registration violations, litter, PWCviolations,andtransportinga watercraft with the drain plug in place. CO Megan Franzen (Silver Bay) spent the week primarily monitoring angling and boating activity around the area. Beautiful weather over the holiday weekend brought many people to the area.Enforcementactionwastakenfor angling and boating related violations. CO Trent Anderson (Tofte) focused on boating and angling activity for the Holiday week. Time was spent on nuisance bear issues. Many folks were out enjoying the lakes and woods with favorableweatherconditions.Enforcement action was taken on a variety of angling and boating related violations. CO Cassie Block (Two Harbors) Spent time this week checking anglers on area lakes. Block focused efforts on boating enforcement, and AIS enforcement with K9 Jet. Time was also spent patrolling for ATV activity.
District 5 - Eveleth area
CO Paul Kennedy (International Falls #1) had a busy week leading into the holiday weekend monitoring angling and watercraft related activities. He took several reports of injured animals and worked with wildlife staff regarding the calls. He also worked a small detail with partner’s patrolling Rainy Lake. Enforcement action for the week included Boating Under the Influence,anglingwithoutalicense,no PFD on personal watercraft, and dogs chasing deer.
CO John Slatinski IV (Ray) The weather cooperated for eager boating and angling enthusiasts over the July 4th weekend. Anglers were reporting catching fish that were too big to keep and not enough for the frying pan. Temperaturesencouraged more people to soak up the sun in and around the water than to chase the wily walleye as theweekendprogressed.Campgrounds were full and festivities were well attended.
CO Troy Fondie (Orr) reports holiday weekend traffic appeared down from previous years. Area lakes were monitored as were area forest roads. Bear and beaver continue causing problems, bear sightings over the week were numerous. Public access sites were checked and equipment worked on. Assistance wasprovidedtoDNRFisheries. CO Sean Cannon (Cook) spent the majority of the week out on the water checking anglers and monitoring boating activity. Some time was also spent monitoring ATV activity. CO Cannon worked long shifts out on Lake Vermilion over the very busy 4th of July weekend. Enforcement action taken included: Angling with an extra line, PWC violations, PFD violations, children not wearing PFDs, gunwale riding, registration violations, navigation light violations, and multiple arrests for Impaired Operation.
