Lower Chippewa and Dodgeville warden teams
September 12, 2012
Lower Chippewa Team
Clark County
While working at the DNR booth at the Clark County Fair, Warden Adam Hanna of Neillsville was called to assist Neillsville Police Department with the search for a woman that was stealing top-prize rabbits from the small animal barn and putting them in her purse. The woman was run out of the fair by angry 4-H kids and got away.
Warden Hanna was checking fishermen along Wedges Creek and observed an ATV driving without headlights activated on a road that was not an ATV route. Warden Hanna stopped the man to steer him back to the ATV trail, but observed that he was intoxicated. The man was arrested for OWI and was found to have a BAC of .25%, over three times the legal limit.
Warden Hanna and Clark County Sheriff Deputies investigated a “shots fired” complaint late at night. A deer was discovered with nine bullet holes in its head and numerous others in its chest. The deer was left in the middle of a country road with a pile of handgun shell casings next to it. The man who shot the deer was apprehended the next day and stated that the deer had been hit by a car and he was trying to put it out of its misery. Enforcement action was taken.
Warden Shaun Deeney of Chippewa Falls responded to several environmental complaints including illegal burning of demolition materials, improper manure disposal, wastewater violations and illegal dredging/filling of wetlands. Reports were forwarded to environmental staff for enforcement action.
Eau Claire County
Warden Scott Thiede of Eau Claire contacted a boater on the Chippewa River that failed to recognize the extreme dangers of towing a water skier during the hours of darkness. Failure to have a functioning stern light, difficulty locating the fallen skier, and the presence of floating logs were discussed during the enforcement contact.
Warden Thiede located a Chippewa River angler that was leaving the shoreline while in possession of a live Wood Turtle in a bucket. The Wood Turtle, a protected threatened species in Wisconsin, was returned to the River.
Warden Ken Thomson of Fall Creek investigated a hotline near Strum regarding the illegal burning of prohibited materials which was producing large amounts of thick black smoke. Upon investigating, Thomson found that the person had created areas around his home for burning televisions, microwaves and other electronics in order to salvage the wire and other metal components. When Thomson contacted the man, he found that there was an active arrest warrant for the suspect. The man was arrested and the burning information forwarded to Environmental Enforcement staff for handling.
Warden Thomson arranged a meeting with interested parties regarding the display of a large buck that died in January near the Beaver Creek Reserve. The large antlers of the buck were loaned to the reserve for display. A local sporting goods store donated the money to mount the deer while a local taxidermist agreed to mount the deer for the cost of materials. Two sets of shed antlers from this deer had been found in 2009 and 2010. These antlers were photographed and will be part of the display. Beaver Creek hopes to have the display opened before the 2012 deer season.
Warden Thomson received a complaint from a bear hunter who noticed a gate had been destroyed by somebody with a four-wheel drive truck. It appeared that the person broke the gate to gain access to the county forest to go mud bogging in a closed area. During the investigation, Thomson was able to identify a suspect and found that several more gates had been destroyed over the past few months in order to “mud bog”. The information was forwarded to the Eau Claire County Sheriff’s Department and enforcement action was taken.
Trempealeau County
Warden Robin Barnhardt of Osseo closed a complaint which he investigated in June when a company operating a gravel pit near Black River Falls was discharging a large amount of sediment into the Black River. The Black River is a high-quality fishery in Jackson County. At the request of DNR Environmental Staff, Warden Barnhardt issued a citation in excess of $1200 to the company for Industrial Water Pollution.
Jackson County
Warden Jake Donar of Black River Falls assisted the Wisconsin State Patrol and Jackson County Sheriff’s Department in a successful effort to locating two 12-year-old girls who were reported missing near the Pigeon Creek Flowage. The two girls were lost in the woods for more than two hours before being located unharmed.
Dodgeville Team
Warden Dave Youngquist of Spring Green obtained permission for a volunteer to use a track Bobcat on a sandbar to remove the hazardous steel out of the Wisconsin River in front of the Mazomanie beach. These steel girders were left behind by a power company more than 30 years ago and had been buried on an island. Over the years, the island has shifted downstream and the steel now sticks out of the water causing boating very unsafe conditions. Fisheries staff also assisted with their larger equipment as the small unit could not recover all the steel.
Wardens Stone and Dewitte provided training to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office on enforcement of the ATV and UTV laws. Wardens Stone and DeWitte also answered questions for three days at the State Fair. Warden Stone talked at a bow hunter education class, a hunter education class and a trapper education class.
Wardens Nick Webster of Lafayette Count and Rick DeWitte assisted with Concerns of Police Survivors Inc. (C.O.P.S.) Kids Summer Camp. Children whose parents were killed in the line of duty participated in week-long camp where they shared their stories of how their parents died and also had an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors though fishing, canoeing, .22-caliber rifle shooting, pellet guns, boating safety, archery and other outdoor spots.