DNR NEWS - Poacher fined, suspended

[Mayfly]

DNR NEWS - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
     
August 5, 2008

For more information, contact Rich Sprouse, public information officer,
Minnesota DNR Division of Enforcement (Camp Ripley), Little Falls, MN
56345; 1-800-366-8917, Ext. 2511

Poacher fined, suspended

A Minnesota trapper was recently ordered to pay $1,700 in fines and
restitution and had his license revoked for three years stemming from an
April 2006 investigation by conservation officers with the Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources.

Timothy L. Kresel, 47, of Brooklyn Park pleaded guilty May 14, 2008 in
Aitkin County District Court to failing to tend traps and taking muskrat
out of season. The investigation lasted nine days and involved
conservation officers from Aitkin, Cass, Crow Wing, Hennepin, Itasca,
and Kanabec counties, as well as DNR’s aviation unit.

Officers seized and confiscated 126 beaver, 12 muskrat, 1 mink, and 1
otter, as well as numerous traps and equipment from Kresel’s vehicle
and home during the investigation. The animals were later sold to a fur
buyer for $2,249, which was returned to the taxpayers of Minnesota.

“This investigation is another example of conservation officers
continuing to focus their serious enforcement efforts on those
individuals who willfully and purposefully violate trapping laws. We
will continue to direct this focus in the future,” said Colonel Mark
Johanson, interim Chief Conservation Officer.

“It’s illegal activity like this that takes the pleasure away from
those who abide by the laws and enjoy trapping,” Johanson said.

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[Mayfly]

DNR NEWS - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE         
August , 2008

For more information, contact Rich Sprouse, public information officer,
Minnesota DNR Division of Enforcement (Camp Ripley), Little Falls, MN
56345; 1-800-366-8917, Ext. 2511

Minnesota woman pays $2,500 fine in death of eagle

A joint investigation by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USF&WS) and U.S. Attorney’s Office in
Minneapolis of a federal offense has resulted in a hefty fine for a
Minnesota woman.

On October 10, 2007, State conservation officers Dan Perron and Mike
Lee received a complaint from the Minnesota “Turn in Poachers”
hotline that a bald eagle had been killed in Mora.

Katherine K. Tramm, 48, of Mora, paid a $2,500 fine July 15 in relation
to the shooting.

After being listed as endangered since 1967, the bald eagle was removed
last year from the federal list of threatened and endangered species.
However, the birds – including their nests and eggs – remain
protected from being killed, sold or otherwise harmed by two federal
laws, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle
Protection Act.

The national symbol has rebounded in the past four decades from 400
breeding pairs in the continental United States to about 10,000.
Minnesota is second in the nation with 1,300 pairs.

"They're a national icon," Conservation Officer Perron said of the
birds. "They're a tremendous symbol to Minnesotans."

"This case is a clear indication that the DNR and the USF&WS are
working diligently to protect and preserve our natural resources," said
DNR Commissioner Mark Holsten.

Holsten went on to praise the conservation officers and special agents
who coordinated the investigation for bringing it to a successful
conclusion, as well as the US Attorney’s Office in Minneapolis, which
successfully prosecuted the case.

"This was a federal case that involved the blending of regulatory,
judicial and law enforcement efforts by conservation officers, special
agents and an assistant US attorney,” Holsten said. “I hope this
sends a strong message to those who violate conservation laws that the
protection of our natural resources is important to our citizens and we
will not allow abuses to go unpunished."

Anyone who witnesses a game or fish violation in Minnesota can report
the incident to the state’s Turn in Poachers hotline at (800) 652
9093.

[Big Slick]

Good to see the DNR getting some of these people.
I can see why the poacher wants to make money but why would anyone shoot a Bald Eagle?