CO John Velsvaag (Ely #2) checked anglers and boaters this past week. He also followed up on a couple of burning complaints during the current fire restrictions. Bear-hunting activity, including bear baiting, has been slowing down, as have bear-related complaints in general.

CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Grand Marais) checked bear hunters and followed up on big-game investigations. Time was spent checking anglers and ATV riders. Enforcement was taken for big-game and ATV violations.

CO Mary Manning (Hovland) worked bear hunters and rechecked bait stations of successful hunters who are done. After some investigation, she located a hunter who had used entire beaver carcasses in a bait station that was registered to a young hunter who had already gotten his bear. A few unregistered bait stations were also investigated, along with some illegal ATV operation.

CO Anthony Bermel (Babbitt) worked Labor Day patrolling local ATV trails and complaint areas with CO Larson. A couple citations were issued for allowing illegal youth operation of an ATV and operating on a closed trail. One individual was arrested for DWI on an ATV. Emergency vehicle operations course refresher was completed. Twenty youth were certified in firearms safety in Babbitt. Additional enforcement action was taken for fishing without a license and for speeding, after an individual passed the officer and continued at over 100 miles per hour.

CO David Schottenbauer (Silver Bay) worked area bear-hunting and angling activity this past week. Time was also spent at Camp Ripley with training and collecting a backgrounds for an upcoming Academy.

CO Kylan Hill (Tofte) reports bear hunters have all but left the area after an extremely busy first week of the season. Violations have been minimal since the first few days and Hill thanks the hunters for sticking to the regulations books. Speaking of regulations books, questions are starting to pour in about the upcoming white-tailed deer seasons. Now is a good time to get your questions answered, and Hill stresses that the majority of the questions cans be answered with just a few page flips. Hill started a background investigation for an applicant in the hiring process for the CO Prep program.

CO Don Murray (Two Harbors) worked early goose and bear-hunting activity during the week. Bears continue to be active, with hunters seeing high use at baits. Murray also checked fall anglers and wild rice harvesters. Several questions on fire restrictions were answered.