Ask a conservation officer

[Lee Borgersen]

  Ask a Conservation Officer:

 Why should I carry my license?. 

4/29/19

Q: Why do I need to carry my license with me? Can't you just look it up on the computer?

A: This is a question that Conservation Officers hear multiple times per year. We understand that it happens that a person forgets to grab their license when they head out, but it is required by statute. Minnesota Statute 97A.405 subdivision 2 states that a person acting under a license or traveling from an area where a licensed activity was performed must have in possession a proper license. This can include a digital file if purchased online, but cannot just be a picture of the license.

  .....
We are able to look up a person's licenses on the computer, but there are a few issues. The biggest one is we are not always near a computer. COs frequently work away from the truck on foot, in a boat, on a snowmobile, or from an ATV. We are not always able to carry the computer with us. In addition, there are many remote areas the computer will not have a wireless signal that would allow us to look it up even if we do have it along.

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If you think about an average day for a conservation officer, they could very easily check 50 or more anglers depending on the station. For each person who doesn't have their license, it can easily double or triple what should be a very short contact. You multiply that by even 10 and that is a significant amount of extra time that could be used to catch those folks who are stealing resources from all of us.


Jake Willis is a Minnesota State Conservation Officer covering the Brookston Station.