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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Listening Point - General Discussion :: DNR Ranger Fines?
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| cyclones30 |
cowdoc: "PaddlinMadeline: "Got a ticket on Gabbro for having cans. He followed our tracks in the snow out to our site. He came around the corner and saw me enjoying a Bent Paddle Black. Ticket was $135. He let us finish a few more and hauled out our cans. Best beers I’ve ever had." You're in a hot spot for expensive beers! Haha |
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| lindylair |
Several years ago we had two guys come upon our Alder Lake site in a big windstorm and they were pretty frazzled when they got there. Normal permit check and questions and a small chiding for trash in the fire grate (a few scraps of paper). They were actually hoping to stay in our site as they had a latrine to replace there, which badly needed it. They were with us for 5-6 hours as they dug a new hole and put in a new latrine, and sealed off the old one. Interesting chatting with them, lots of stories of both good and bad experiences. When they were done they headed out, obviously not looking forward to it as the wind was still treacherous and they were very heavily loaded. But they seemed to know what they were doing so I am sure they did fine. We follow the rules so have no concern about running into them, glad they are out there. |
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| Zwater |
Yep! |
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| LindenTree |
Both had been wilderness rangers in the past before transferring to my engine. One was pen happy and I had to counsel him a couple times not to write tickets for some infraction that I thought was miniscule. The other crew member said that he had never written a ticket in the 4 or 5 years that he was a wilderness ranger. One time my fire engine was run off Forest road 172/Wanless road out of Isabella by a logging truck. We went back to talk to him at the forest logging sale and he got snippy with my crew. I called our regular Law Enforcement Officer and he wrote him a ticket. He fought the ticket, and my whole crew ended going to Federal Court in Duluth to testify. The judge found him guilty of careless driving or something of the sort, which I can't remember. If the logger had kept his mouth shut in stead of trying to be-little us in front of his buddies he would not have gotten a ticket. All we wanted was an apology, since our fire engine was undamaged and did not get stuck. |
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| Fearlessleader |
One time on Thomas, it was a retired couple doing volunteer campsite cleaning. Twice between Kawishiwi Lake and Malberg. In 2001 on one of those portages, a 12 year old girl with us carried a new fiberglass john over the portage for the ranger. It made an interesting picture with her head sticking out the top. They do great work, so we always try to be appreciative. |
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| Pinetree |
thefourofus: "We have had a couple of encounters with FS employees out in the BW doing maintenance and other activities, but only one with Rangers. We had entered late morning at Little Gabbro on a super hot July day a few years ago. Not long after crossing into Gabbro, a huge storm came up behind us out of no where. We were caught quite a ways out in the middle of the lake. Having a canoe of newbies with us, I decided to head for the nearest campsite to ride it out. The campsite was on a point on the North side of the lake. Once we got there we saw it was occupied. The wind and waves were now so bad we could not move on so I had everyone just go around the point and sit it out. Then the lightening started, so I had everyone land and move inland a few yards on a trail that was most likely connected to the campsite and sit behind a small rock face. We only went a few yards in and were still a ways from the campers. That storm was just a harbinger of one to come later in that trip. I like the Rangers comment on upcoming inspection. |
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| thefourofus |
Just as we got off the water, a canoe of two rangers landed by us. They said they saw us get caught in the storm and wanted to check on us. They were also looking for some shelter. They were very nice and helpful. Once the storm passed (20 minutes), they asked about our permit and where we were headed. During our conversation a "sweet" lady that was camped at the nearby site came up to us. She yelled to the rangers "they are not with us, we don't know them, we don't know why they are here" before retreating back to her camp. The rangers told us to have a great trip as we climbed back into our canoes and said they now have a very thorough inspection to do. |
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| ForestDuff |
Pinetree: "There was like 10 years ago there was a group going thru the Little Gabro access were catching over their limit,mainly on Gabro. Often the CO's were waiting and checking that area quite frequently." Interesting. The trip was 10 years ago this April and by saying "They looked legal", I meant they didn't appear to be walleye fishing. Looked to be locals on a day trip, not much gear that I could tell from glassing them over from afar. It would of been a little haul from Little Gabbro, but easily doable by that time in the morning. And they came swiftly into the area with a stern paddler and the other guy on a set of oars. They seemed to be surprised that I was there, I thought their behavior was a tad odd. They had a long conversation after spying me. I thought they maybe intended to target walleye, it never occurred to me that they might be stacking a freezer with Crappies. I left about a half hour after they arrived. They tripped my spidey-sense a bit, even more so when I arrived back at the Lake One access and my truck was the only one in the parking lot. I figured they either came in through Triangle Lake or Forest Road 439. Didn't even think about Little Gabbro being an option. |
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| Pinetree |
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| 1lookout |
by the rules. In a usual 8 day trip I'd write 1 or 2 tickets, I think in 8 years 1 time No permit, a few times cans, mostly undesignated campsites and fire outside the grate. In my officer discretion, those are automatic. I worked the worse of it all Sag,Seagull and Trout. I'm a pro-motor guy, but motor routes tend to have more violations, just speaking from experience, now I work Burntside and Shagawa doing AIS, you want stories???? |
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| RMinMN |
On another trip just myself and my wife were checked in the late afternoon. We told the ranger and the volunteer with her that since they didn't bring fishing gear with them we'd catch a walleye for their dinner. I lost the first walleye right at the canoe but landed the next 2. They looked pretty surprised when we pulled up to their campsite with a fresh walleye and cleaned it for them. I heard that that was talked about a bit back at the station. We've been to the BWCA every year but one in the last 40 years and have never had an unpleasant encounter with a ranger. |
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| ForestDuff |
Saganaga campsite, the first trip my wife and I took together along with our 12 week old Golden. A couple rangers paddled up and checked our site out and then asked for our permit. I did a quick search and then realized I had left it on the dashboard of the truck. They wrote down my name, and that was it. A rare mid April solo trip on the Kawishishi River, didn't see a soul until I was packing up the last morning. A couple of guys came paddling in to fish that stretch, I watched them a bit, and yes they seemed to be targeting crappies just like I was. I had realized while out there that I forgot to fill out a self issue permit at the access. Pfft, what are the odds I'm gonna be checked at this time of year? As I approached the entry point, I could see a couple uniformed gentlemen talking to an older couple. Great, I said......so much for long odds. I took my first load to the truck as they continued to chat, and luckily I keep some self permits in the glove box, so filled one out quickly and put it in my pocket before getting the rest of my gear. It was a couple of Conservation Officers, and they must've seen my UL crappie rig in the canoe, because they asked how the fishing was but did not ask to see my licence. They then asked if I had seen anybody else fishing, they both perked up when I mentioned the two guys from earlier. But their shoulders slumped when I said "They looked legal". At that point they asked to see my permit, which surprised me a bit being CO's, "Sure, it's right here in my pocket." I snuck the other half of the permit into the box on my next trip to the truck. |
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| PaddlinMadeline |
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| A1t2o |
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| PaddleIN |
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| cowdoc |
PaddlinMadeline: "Got a ticket on Gabbro for having cans. He followed our tracks in the snow out to our site. He came around the corner and saw me enjoying a Bent Paddle Black. Ticket was $135. He let us finish a few more and hauled out our cans. Best beers I’ve ever had." The expensive beers usually taste good |
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| sedges |
In 1972 we( ten scouts in 4 canoes on a Hunter Island tour) were buzzed by a MN DNR aircraft on Crooked Lake and to our surprise they landed and taxied over to us. We were dreadfully unaware of needing to have a MN canoe registration since WI didn't require it. After a long nervous conversation and a promise to register the boats they flew off without writing a ticket. |
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| ChazzTheGnome |
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| Blatz |
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| MikeinMpls |
I don't know why. Probably just luck, I guess. Mike |
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| deerfoot |
I also got cited in 1994 for beer and soda in cans in the Sylvania Wilderness in Upper Michigan. It was a family trip with myself, brother and four kids. We explained to the rangers that we always pack out everything and also asked what the kids were supposed to drink. He told us to take to all the cans back to the vehicle and go into town for soda in plastic bottles which was fine with them. When asked what the difference was between cans and plastic bottles he said the bottles float so they can be picked up. On subsequent trips our soda and beer was in plastic (remember stadium bottles for beer). My fine was only $25.00. The ranger that cited me remembered me going forward when I thanked him for introducing me to stadium beer bottles. These days I stick to whisky and bagged red wine - bigger bang for the weight/volume. |
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| pitster |
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| LindenTree |
Blatz: "I've been stopped three times - twice in the BW and once in Q. Always female crews. The ladies in Q where more interested in my carbon bent shaft paddle, which was a wilderness novelty back in the early '90s. " At least you didn't get pinched for having a can of Blatz beer :-) |
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| Bushpilot |
1lookout: " I've worked boat landings for the past 40 years, what you see with people backing up is unreal....but when they unhook the trailer from the vehicle and motor away, And that is how you get your trailer to your water access a site in the summer. Or did they have other thoughts? |
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| Bushpilot |
Zwater: "Burntside and Shagawa doing AIS, you want stories???? 1Lookout I bet we have talked. Over the last 2 years I remember 2 different guys at Burntside. Both maybe late 60s? Sorry I am careful not to offend, I am really bad at guessing age. Both very nice and I always enjoyed talking with them. I seem to remember one had worked in Grand Rapids area and maybe now stays in Bear Island area. I also remember one of them having dog treats. Next summer I will ask. |
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| bwcadan |
A very thorough inspection for the lady and that group would have made me happy. Sorta hope they got caught with something out of order. |
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| Bushpilot |
LindenTree: "I had two Forest Protection Officers working on my fire engine out of Isabella over a couple years. Do you remember who the logger was ? If so what are his initials? Wasn't related to Bowser? That Wanless road has more tight corners than any other road I know. When I see a pulp truck coming I use as much road as I can. That way I have room to move out of the way at the last minute. |
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| scotttimm |
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| mgraber |
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| thefourofus |
bwcadan: "off: Some folks do not have a grain of sense. You or I would likely have invited anyone to our camp in a weather event as described. Yes, I would have no problem with a group coming ashore at my campsite in that situation. The FS guys had no problem that we might be over the 9 person limit. After that lady left us, I told the Rangers I guess she is worried about the group size rule and they said what else were you supposed to do. I was hoping to see those guys again and find out what may have happened, but we didn't. I guess she was just worried they might get in trouble and probably should not have taken it personally. Or she just doesn't like people. |
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| GopherAdventure |
Tony |
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| TominMpls |
RMinMN: "...The next morning we were camped on another lake when just as we finished breakfast, yes, the same two rangers pulled up and had coffee with us." Sounds to me like they liked your coffee. |
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| corvidologist |
Let's see what the count is up to... Once back when - Dad and I were doing a father-son trip off the Sawbill, and an older gent was just sitting in a small lake, a pond really, that was on a pretty busy route. There would be NO way to get away from him if you wanted to. Checked our permit and let us go quickly. Sister and brother and I were on SAKnife, the gorgeous big site on the south side, on a peninsula. A woman and a young guy came up in the morning, and joined us in camp. While the woman chatted with us (told us about someone getting busted for firing an automatic weapon on the island in South Arm Knife! The float plane came for him, apparently!) the young workhorse systematically and quickly dismantled the enormous windscreen/pyramid that had been at our fire when we arrived. They didn't make it unusable at all, but apparently the size it had been had attracted attention. THEN as we were wrapping things up with them, we look up, and see a bear swimming along the peninsula north, right out from us. Followed by a cub! They swam across the lake to the island. Several more recent checks include right after the blowdown of 2016 off of Snowbank - the rangers were carrying huge handsaws and were working to clear trails. On one of the portages along Knife a group with me got stopped - a canoe came shooting down the rapids, and I thought they were scouts at first, but before doing anything they headed straight to us and checked us. Another time was on the Lake One - Lake two portage. They were moving QUICK and only glanced at ours before heading over to another group. I feel like I'm forgetting one or two. I've not been stopped by the DNR except at Fall Lake to check boat license (he was more worried about aquatic invasives), but have seen them a few times, on Iron. Once they were clearly doing fish surveys (had nets), and had taken the sweet site in the SE with the beach. They were using a motor, too, which irritated me. We realized that due to a boat boy error we had a canoe with a very old license, though, so we stayed on the Canada side as we passed them! |
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| LindenTree |
Bushpilot: It wasn't Bowser, or anyone from Isabella. Only thing I can remember after 18 years, is that he was from Ely, pretty sure his last name started with a B and was kinda hard to pronounce. I still remember the Federal Judge asking the logger how fast he was going, the logger replied. "I don't know, my speedometer doesn't work" His truck was a real beauty "Not". It was fortunate for both of us, mostly us that my larger fire engine with duallys was in for repairs. Because of this we had a regular F-350 with a slip in water tank in the back. Otherwise we would have collided, since there was a high bank on my side and I couldn't get over any farther. |
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| Blatz |
LindenTree: "Blatz: "I've been stopped three times - twice in the BW and once in Q. Always female crews. The ladies in Q where more interested in my carbon bent shaft paddle, which was a wilderness novelty back in the early '90s. " Non Drinker now. I know ironic. But if I where to smuggle cans of beer I wouldn't risk it on Industrial Beer. I would go with a nice New Glarus Fat Squrial , Staghorn. Scream Double IPA. Or Possibly a Bent Paddle Coffee Stout depending on the time of year. |
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| Pinetree |
RMinMN: "A number of years ago we were just finishing breakfast when a couple rangers pulled up to our campsite so we invited them to have coffee with us. They checked our permit and chatted for a bit and moved on. The next morning we were on a different lake finishing breakfast when a couple rangers pulled up to our campsite so we invited them in for coffee. Same rangers. The next morning we were camped on another lake when just as we finished breakfast, yes, the same two rangers pulled up and had coffee with us. I think that is awesome the good interaction you had with them. Some people just don't want any interaction at all. Great communication on your part and great attitude that they will remember forever. More people should realize the rangers do the job because they love it and they are just another person like you or I. They like you like to share stories back and forth. |
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| dustytrail |
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| Pinetree |
mgraber: "We have encountered rangers about every 3rd or 4th trip. This has been pretty consistent over the years. We have met more in central Quetico than anywhere else. They have always been friendly." Almost 100% of Rangers are friendly and went into that line of work because they love the outdoors and they hope to give something good back to it. |
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| aruthenb |
PaddlinMadeline: "Got a ticket on Gabbro for having cans. He followed our tracks in the snow out to our site. He came around the corner and saw me enjoying a Bent Paddle Black. Ticket was $135. He let us finish a few more and hauled out our cans. Best beers I’ve ever had." Bent Paddle Black may be worth the ticket cost |
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| airmorse |
Very friendly and chatty. They had a stringer with a few walleye on for their lunch. I was very happy to see them!!! Thanked them for what they do. And we moved on. |
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| tumblehome |
I was once accused of planting tiny American flags at portage landingsin Quetico. You see, back in my early 20's when my ego was the size of a canoe, we had little flags that we put on the back of our canoe like you see people do with their vintage wood speedboats back in the day. Anyway, two young females rangers landed at our campsite after seeing our canoe with a flag planted in the back. "We've been looking for you!" she angrily growled. "You are the ones planting flags at portages". I was quite upset since I am about the most vocal supporter of envirnmental conservation you will find. I informed her that we would never do that and that we lost it on the portage. Nothing ever became of it. Last year on Sturgeon in the Q I was paddling with a nice breeze at my back when far ahead of me I saw a canoe with two paddlers moving at quite a clip. As I continued in my lazy pace hardly having to do more than rudder, I realized this canoe was aiming for me and they were really paddling hard, like a stroke a second for at least a few minutes. I thought it was a party in distress needing my help. So I sort of just sat in my canoe expecting them to come right to me. Several minutes later, two very exhausted rangers met up with me and we sat in the middle of the lake whilst they held onto my gunwales and tried to catch their breath. The male in the back asked "Good morning, may I see your permit?" The young female barely over 100 pounds in the front sat there sort of embarrassed but also feeling proud of her endeavors was quietly holding our canoes together. It was an extremely pleasant conversation and I profusely thanked them for all they do. I must have been the first canoe they saw in some time since they were so excited to get to me. Tom |
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| Savage Voyageur |
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| 1lookout |
I only fill in at VanVac. I'm normally Shagawa. Fellows you are thinking of are probably Bob 82 years old and Pat from Bear Island, near 70, but with a bad heart so will not be back, swell fellows. I think my favorite Burntside story, was one day I was down at the landing with Susan, we're like what is that floating out there? Looked like a body in a pfd? Well we had no way to check it out, along came a boater, can you go check that out, Yeh, but it looks like a floater. I said I'll go with you. Turns out it was a blowup floating alligator. Whew...…... |
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| PatrickE |
The US encounter was fine as well. We arrived late one night on the far NE site of Horse lake (#114). It was the last site available on the lake and there were multiple groups at the time looking for a spot. Most didn’t bother to paddle up to the northern side since the portages are all on the southern side. The site was a bit trashed. Multiple pieces of trash and wet dirty clothes littered about the site. The landing pad also had a bunch of discarded food in about a foot of water. The following morning, we spent a good deal of time cleaning up all of the trash to pack out. Mid morning a pair of rangers stopped by and did an inspection. They kept chastising us for the food in the water. Told them multiple times how bad the site was when we arrived and how much better it looked after the morning chores. You could tell they didn’t believe us and kept telling us the proper way to dispose of excess food. They also mentioned they had found several groups camping on the lake on non designated sites. Don’t believe they were giving out tickets, just telling them to pack up asap. As much as we were stressed about finding a site and forced with possibly portaging to the next lake at 7 pm, I kind of wished they had written those guys tickets. May be effective in altering that behavior in the future. All in all very nice guys. You could tell they had been through a busy morning already. |
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| JD |
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| 1lookout |
with boat, motor and trailer attached is a sight to see! |
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| Pinetree |
1lookout: " I've worked boat landings for the past 40 years, what you see with people backing up is unreal....but when they unhook the trailer from the vehicle and motor away, You actually seen that wow? I do know it can get irritating when going to put a boat in and it is O'kay if they don't know how to back up a boat but when they get it on the ramp they spend all day putting things in or out showing no hurry to get out of the way for the next guy. On AIS inspections also you get people that been on the lake all day goofing off and having a good time-which is good. But get to the landing they are in such a hurry they can't take ONE MINUTE to clean their boat of weeds etc or drain their live well. They just don't have time. That always irked me. |
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| MikeinMpls |
And yes, both female, both blonde. Mike |
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| timatkn |
T |