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Anglers are advised to use caution as ice conditions are fluctuating with recent temperature swings.
CO Brent Ihnen (Ely #2) spent most of his week patrolling his station checking anglers. He also checked ATV operators.
CO Anthony Bermel (Babbitt) provided a ridealong to a DNR intern who hopes to be a CO someday, worked on Bear Committee items, and patrolled designated trout lakes, as some are still holding fishable ice. Additional time was spent on a trespass issue.
CO Hudson Ledeen (Grand Marais #2) spent time earlier in the week assisting at Waterfowl Enforcement School. Time was also spent patrolling area lakes. Enforcement action was taken for multiple angling violations.
CO Trent Anderson (Tofte) focused on ice fishing activity for the week. Anglers are advised to use caution as ice conditions are fluctuating with recent temperature swings. Enforcement action was taken for angling without a license.
District 5 - Eveleth area CO Darrin Kittelson (International Falls #1) reports fishing on the Rainy River continues to be slow with the cold weather and the accesses iced back up. A small grass fire was responded to. The winter storm should help with dry conditions, but people are advised to use caution when burning. Remember to get a permit to burn and that the permit needs to be activated.
CO Curtis Simonson (International Falls #2) reports continuing to check anglers and boaters on the Rainy River. Nuisance animal-related calls/complaints were also taken this past week. Area forest roads and trails were monitored as well.
CO John Slatinski IV (Ray) monitored angling activity in the area. He checked on dock and shoreline projects and attended a meeting with Canadian conservation officers reviewing activity for upcoming seasons. It didn’t take much snow to show up before snowmobiles were again noted out and about.
CO Troy Fondie (Orr) reports monitoring area forest roads, local lakes and waterways saw no activity due to unsafe ice conditions and various locations of open water. ATV activity was monitored. Equipment work is ongoing. Administrative tasks continue.
CO Shane Zavodnik (Virginia) spent time working with lakeshore owners involving their water levels being substantially higher than typically observed in past years. He also assisted with Duck School for Academy training and prepared upcoming in-service training at Camp Ripley. Zavodnik wants to remind off-road vehicle users to watch for trail closures and to use common sense where to ride with the wet season of spring occurring.
CO Duke Broughten (Aurora) spent the week monitoring fishing, trapping, and ATV activity. Outdoor recreational activity was low this week. Lakes continue to open up despite the colder weather. Broughten fielded calls regarding injured animals, snowmobile trails, and burning.
CO Aaron Larson (Tower) worked primarily trapping and ATV activity. Larson assisted CO Williams with a firearms safety class in Ely. He also spent time working on a wetland case and answering questions from trappers around his station. Most ice has reformed on area lakes, but remains very thin in most places.
CO Sean Cannon (Cook) spent most of the week at Duck School in southeastern Minnesota, which was a training focusing on waterfowl. The remaining time was spent patrolling state forests and working on equipment.
Aviation Section
CO Pilot Jason Jensen (Brainerd) reports flying a training flight and speaking at a natural resource law enforcement class at Central Lakes College.
CO Pilot Charles Scott (Grand Rapids) conducted flight training with NR pilot Grace Zeller.
Scott also attended the Great Lakes Forest Fire Compact conference, repositioned aircraft for maintenance, assisted with a helicopter parts inventory and completed upcoming training courses.
CO Pilot Bob Geving (Mankato) worked on administrative and training tasks.
CO Pilot Tim Gray (Bemidji) completed Division training tasks and completed aircraft maintenance paperwork.
NR Pilot Brad Maas (Brainerd) completed a training flight in a helicopter. Maas also worked on helicopter parts inventory items and administrative tasks.
NR Pilot Gracie Zeller (Brainerd) cleaned and organized parts in a hangar with the help of her colleagues. She flew an aircraft to have skis removed in time for the most snow the area has seen all year! Maintenance tracking systems were updated.
