CO Sean Williams (Ely #1) continued to receive nuisance-bear complaints in the Ely area. Most complaints involved bears getting into human trash that was not secured properly. Residents are reminded that careless garbage storage can create a nuisance-bear problem in your neighborhood. Violations included angling with no license in possession and operating a watercraft with expired registration.

CO John Velsvaag (Ely #2) checked ATV riders and anglers this past week. Fishing was slow on area lakes. Velsvaag took several nuisance-animal calls and Basswood Lake fishing regulation questions.

CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Grand Marais) checked anglers on Lake Superior and inland lakes, and monitored ATV activity. He followed up on boating complaints and calls related to nuisance wildlife. Enforcement action was taken for angling, boating and ATV violations. 

CO Anthony Bermel (Babbitt) worked ATV-complaint areas, primarily ATV operation on trails closed to their use. One individual operating on a state snowmobile trail buried his ATV in the mud and water and several people tried to assist by driving their trucks down the trail. Enforcement action was taken. Additionally, station lakes were worked with enforcement action taken including several extra line citations, illegal-length northern pike, and warnings for several lesser violations. Fishing success has slowed.

CO David Schottenbauer (Silver Bay) worked area lakes for angling and boating activity. Time was also spent in Grand Rapids for training.

CO Kylan Hill (Tofte) reports focusing a lot of time on AIS, sport fishing, and ATV safety throughout the week. Multiple drain plug violations were observed. One person in particular said he put his plug in at the beginning of the year when he put his boat on a lift in another state. When Hill stopped him in Grand Marais, his boat was full of water because he had yet to remove the plug. A citation was issued. A first-time ATV operator was educated on the importance of obtaining their ATV safety certificate. Multiple non-motorized registration violations were documented, and multiple people were issued citations for possessing aluminum cans of beer in the BWCA. One group had three large coolers full of the illegal item.

CO Don Murray (Two Harbors) worked boating and angling activity this past week. Salmon fishing improved on Lake Superior and some nice trout were also showing up in the catch. Nuisance-bear calls were also taken.