Continued: Aug. 28: DNR's fete for wardens was excessive, audit finds

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources violated state law and inappropriately spent nearly $300,000 to help train and entertain U.S. and Canadian game wardens at a conference in St. Paul last year, the state Legislative Auditor said Thursday.

The report, triggered by a story in the Star Tribune in May, revealed new details about the questionable conference spending, including that state conservation officers were paid to take out-of-town guests to play golf at the Manitou Ridge course in White Bear Lake and to fish on Mille Lacs Lake.

DNR employees also were paid by the state to serve as shuttle-bus drivers and watch over the children of out-of-town guests, according to Legislative Auditor James Nobles.

"It was a damning report," said Rep. Jean Wagenius, DFL-Minneapolis, who is chairwoman of the House Environment and Natural Resources Finance Division Committee.

That panel is one of two environmental oversight committees that have scheduled a joint hearing Sept. 8 to question DNR officials about the matter.

The auditor faulted the DNR commissioner's office for authorizing fund-raising by conservation officers in violation of a state conflict-of-interest law. The report also said DNR managers "did not adequately authorize, define, or control" state participation in the conference.

DNR Commissioner Mark Holsten said he agreed with the audit's findings and is taking action to correct problems.

Yet he said DNR staff members were told not to spend state money on the conference, but did so anyway. In an interview, Holsten said he didn't know that DNR officials authorized some of the large payments for the event.

Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, the chairman of the Legislative Audit Commission, criticized Holsten's response, calling it "the buck stops here -- but." He said the DNR's oversight of fund-raising and public spending on the event was "very sloppy."

The auditor concluded that most of the $388,000 in state spending on the three-day conference was "inappropriate." For example, the department paid admission fees not only for conservation officers who attended the conference, but also for other DNR employees and spouses who worked as conference staff. And the DNR paid inflated fees for officers, which boosted the income to two host groups, the auditor found.

Col. Mike Hamm, head of the enforcement division, and his wife, Capt. Cathy Hamm, a manager in the division who played a key role in planning the event, have been on paid administrative leave since May. Neither would comment on Thursday.

The conference is held every year in a different state or province by the North American Wildlife Enforcement Officers Association, which represents 8,000 game wardens. The Minnesota Conservation Officers Association, the union representing non-supervisory conservation officers, was the host of the event last July in a St. Paul hotel. It featured three days of training and lectures, along with social events and entertainment.

"We didn't find malicious intent on the part of individuals. It was really more of an organizational failure," Nobles said in an interview.

He said that auditors and the DNR will ask the state attorney general to seek the return of $76,000 in profits retained by the two host groups. Nobles also said he will present the findings to the Ramsey County Attorney's office to review for potential criminal charges.

Three DNR employees, who are current or former officers of the union, refused to be interviewed under oath for the auditor's investigation, citing their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, Nobles said. That has not happened before, he said. Holsten said he believes the three employees did answer questions, under a grant of limited immunity from prosecution, in a separate inquiry by a law firm hired by the state.

Former DNR Commissioner Gene Merriam, who left the agency at the end of 2006, told investigators that he did not authorize spending state money for the conference, though he supported officers attending it for training.

Nobles and Holsten said the money for the conference initially came from the DNR's fish and game fund, which gets income from hunting and fishing licenses. Holsten said the department reimbursed that fund from other DNR monies shortly after the initial news report.

David Shaffer • 612-673-7090