Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RALPH ANSAMI
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has been working snowmobile patrols that began with the New Year's weekend, when the Ironwood area experienced two fatalities.
MDNR Sgt. Grant Emery, formerly of Bessemer, worked snowmobile activity in the Porcupine Mountains State Park, according to a Dec. 31-Jan. 13 report from the DNR.
Trail conditions were “near perfect” because of a large amount of snowfall and snowmobilers flocked to the park. Emery took enforcement action for failure to register snowmobiles, no snowmobile trail permits, failure to affix registrations and trail permits, along with careless operations of snowmobiles.
DNR conservation officer Ethen Mapes worked a holiday weekend snowmobile patrol and targeted snowmobilers who were driving carelessly and not stopping at stop signs before crossing the roadways. Mapes issued four careless operation of snowmobile citations and one snowmobile recreational trespass citation that weekend.
A common theme in fatal crashes this year in both Wisconsin and Michigan has been excessive speed.
CO Brian Lasanen assisted the Ontonagon County Sheriff’s Department with a snowmobile that caught fire. By the time the officers arrived, the fire was out and the only thing left of the snowmobile was the frame and engine block.
The owner-operator was not injured.
CO Shannon Kritz coordinated with the Gogebic County Sheriff’s Department to gather information on the two fatal snowmobile accidents that occurred over the holiday weekend.
Kritz also responded to a Report All Poaching complaint about a person who let his dogs out of his house before checking to see if there were any deer in his yard. The dogs chased a young deer, causing it to run into a fence and injure itself.
The deer had to be dispatched. Enforcement action was taken on the individual for dogs chasing wildlife and the deer was given to a family in need.
Kritz and Sgt. Marc Pomroy conducted an ice fishing patrol to check whitefish anglers in Iron County. A check of one group found suspicious activity. Further investigation found evidence to lead the COs to discover a gill net set under the ice between the two anglers' ice shacks. Approximately 35 feet of gill net was seized and both individuals were cited.
