outdoors

Trying not to be the heavy in already tenuous times, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conservation officers have opted in recent days to tell anglers who don't have licenses simply to stop fishing -- without writing tickets.

The reason: With the state government shut down, licenses can't be bought.

"In a perfect world, we'd like them to have a license,'' DNR Capt. Greg Salo said. "But it's a delicate thing right now. In most cases, we're telling them they can't fish without a license.''

Salo said officers are encountering unlicensed anglers more often Up North than in the Twin Cities.

But regardless of officers' locations, fish and game enforcement is taking a back seat during the shutdown to public safety, including helping local law enforcement officers at traffic accidents and other incidents, and protecting state parks and other property, including DNR headquarters in St. Paul.

The change in enforcement emphasis will come at a cost -- perhaps a steep one, if the shutdown is prolonged -- to the state's general fund, and therefore taxpayers. The reason: Officers' patrol time is largely funded by dedicated accounts, such as those paid into by hunters and anglers who purchase licenses, as well as snowmobilers, ATV owners and others.

Less than 7 percent of the enforcement budget is supplied by the general fund for public safety, a percentage that likely will have to be supplemented when the Legislature and governor finally strike a budget deal, said DNR enforcement division director Jim Konrad. "We'll burn that up real quick,'' Konrad said.

In more typical times, state conservation officers set their own hours. During the shutdown, they're being assigned eight-hour shifts, so officer coverage is around-the-clock.

Last weekend, Konrad said, many conservation officers were at state parks, where day use so far is being tolerated by the DNR, though not recommended. A DNR officer and his dog successfully found lost hikers in recent days, Konrad said, and also responded to two emergencies at Gooseberry State Park, where one visitor to the closed facility fell from a cliff and another was swept from the river into Lake Superior. Both incidents apparently ended without serious injury, Konrad said.

No enforcement division support staff members are working during the shutdown. But each of the division's licensed peace officers -- 186 in all -- is drawing a shift.

"One weird thing is that we're not receiving mail at the office, so I'm having invoices for officers' vehicle and equipment repair sent to my house,'' Konrad said. "There will be a lot of work to catch up on when the shutdown ends.''

Dennis Anderson • danderson@startribune.com