Weekly CO Report:

[Lee Borgersen]

  Area Mn DNR Conservation Officer Weekly Reports

August 27, 2018

District 9 - Brainerd area


Conservation Officer Scott Fitzgerald, Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area (CCSRA), reports continuing training with Conservation Officer Candidate (COC) Hughes. They gave a law and ethics presentation to a firearms safety class that 18 kids attended. Time was spent patrolling the State Recreation Area (SRA) for illegal motor vehicle operation and park violations.

 Anglers and boaters were checked on several different lakes with a few fish seen in the bag. Calls of possible illegal filling of a wetland, possible illegal dredging of a waterway, and an assist to the State Patrol were handled. Many outdoor law-related questions were fielded throughout the week and weekend.

 A call of a person putting out corn in an area where there was a wildlife feeding ban was investigated and a call of some litter left in the park area was taken.

 The officers also seized a wild deer that someone had been raising in their home since it was a fawn - without a permit. The deer was transported to the Wild and Free Wildlife Rehabilitation center. Enforcement action for the week included various fishing, big-game, and boating violations.

CO Karl Hadrits (Crosby) reports activity included attending department training at Camp Ripley, and checking bear baiting, wild rice, fishing, and boating activity. Enforcement contacts were made for miscellaneous boating violations.

CO Bob Mlynar (Aitkin) worked angling, boating, ATV, off-highway motorcycle and bear baiting activity. Evidence was gathered on a TIP call and training was attended.

CO Jim Guida (Nisswa) worked sport fishing and attended in-service training during the week. Guida worked with COC Tyler Lusignan on DNR training tasks and answered a variety of station calls. Lusignan took part in a bald eagle release as part of the Garrison Animal Hospital Wild and Free program.

CO Patrick McGowan (Pine River) worked busy Cass and Crow Wing county lakes throughout the week. McGowan continues to train a conservation officer cadet on field training. The officers also assisted local agencies with calls for service. Enforcement action was taken for numerous boating, fishing, and traffic violations.

CO Chelsey Best (Crosslake) investigated multiple trespassing complaints in the Emily area pertaining to accessing waterbodies. Time was also spent documenting violations for other DNR divisions. Bear baiting has begun in the area and people are already asking about deer season logistics. Fall is coming.


CO Eric Sullivan (Pequot Lakes) attended the Night to Unite community gathering in Baxter. He also attended an ATV safety training in Brainerd. Calls throughout the week included an impaired motorboat operator on Gull Lake, ATVs damaging public roadways and state forest violations.

District 10 - Mille Lacs area:

CO Gregory Verkuilen (Garrison) scouted bear baits this week and made other preparations for Sept. 1 hunting openers. He also attended training, assisted at a highway crash, and investigated a burning complaint.

CO Dustie Speldrich (Willow River) attended training at Camp Ripley. She also responded to possible public waters/shoreland violations. Bear baiting is in full swing and bear hunters are reminded to read up on the baiting and hunting laws.

CO Dan Starr (Onamia) attended training and took care of equipment maintenance. Assistance was given to the local sheriff’s office with a large litter case. A possible deer poaching, trespass, and illegal camping situation were also documented. Starr consulted with a federal trapper on two separate farms of wolf depredation in which numerous wolves were trapped.

CO Luke Croatt (Wealthwood) checked bear baiting activity during the week and weekend. With the amount of natural food in the woods it might be a slower start having bears hit the bait sites. Some calls about rice in the area were taken. The crop is very poor with very few isolated pockets of rice seen.

District 11 -:

CO Caleb Silgjord (Sauk Centre) spent time assisting with use of force training at Camp Ripley for the Division’s fall in-service. Time was also spent armoring patrol shotguns.

CO Todd VanderWeyst (Paynesville) attended training at Camp Ripley. He worked on maintenance for the patrol vehicle and boat and took care of administrative tasks.

CO Frank Rezac (St. Cloud) reports checking anglers and investigating aquatic vegetation, public waters, and Wetland Conservation Act violations. Enforcement action was taken for unlawful removal of aquatic vegetation and failure to comply with a wetland restoration order.

CO Keith Bertram (Long Prairie) spent several days at Camp Ripley for annual training. He also checked anglers and boaters and found license violations. Follow-up was conducted on a deer depredation permit complaint.

District 4 - Walker area:

CO Randy Posner (Staples) reports working fishing enforcement this past week. The sunfish and bass have been the most productive for anglers. Boating enforcement and safety also received some enforcement time. No lights after sunset and PWCs operating within 150 feet of shore were reported. He also worked on aquatic invasive species prevention on the Gull River and Fishtrap Lake.

CO Mark Mathy (Cass Lake) primarily attended annual in-service training at Camp Ripley and worked on a background investigation for a CO applicant. Bear baits, AIS, and ATVs were also checked. Enforcement action was taken for ATVs on the roadway and transporting watercraft without the drain plug removed.

District 12 - Princeton area

CO Angela Londgren (Cambridge) attended annual training at Camp Ripley, patrolled local lakes and checked ATV complaint areas. Background investigation work and checking bear bait was also done this past week.

CO Mike Krauel (Mora) spent the week attending training at Camp Ripley. Krauel also worked on wetland complaints where an individual was dredging a wetland. He also checked anglers and ATV riders.

CO Tony Musatov (Sauk Rapids) checked anglers and ATV riders. Time was spent checking camping permits and horse passes. A big game TIP call was investigated.

Aviation Section

NR Pilot Brad Maas (Brainerd) completed a few more plots in the hybrid cattail aerial spraying effort. High winds and high humidity kept the crew from making better progress. The crew will be in the southwest part of the state, near Worthington, for the remainder of the plots.

Water Resource Enforcement Officers

WREO Robert Haberman (North Central) worked on wetland and public water and aquatic plant management cases in his assigned area. Training at Camp Ripley was attended and AIS enforcement was worked.