RED WING, MINN. – Brittany Hauser slowly edged her boat up the Mississippi River and saw a fishing boat with four men in it. Using binoculars, she got a closer look. "Binoculars are a game warden's best friend," she said.
She called out: "Game warden. How's it going?" All four had their licenses and the boat had the required safety equipment. All was well, and Hauser moved up the river.
She is one of three new Department of Natural Resources conservation officers in the region. Their backgrounds are very different.
Hauser, who covers eastern Goodhue County, rarely fished and never hunted when growing up in the Twin Cities. Kylan Hill, who covers the western part of the county, grew up hunting and fishing but studied philosophy and political science in college. James Fogarty, who covers eastern Houston and parts of eastern Winona counties, served more than a dozen years in law enforcement in two counties before switching to conservation.
Getting "nontraditional" officers such as Hauser and Hill is part of a new DNR push. It's looking for people with backgrounds outside of law enforcement, said Lt. Tyler Quandt, who is in charge of this DNR region.
To be a CO, a person has to have a law-enforcement license and pass medical, physical and psychological tests, he said. Most officers now have a two- or four-year college degree. "We are looking for people who are interested in the outdoors because our job is so unique," he said.
But the DNR is also looking for intangibles, something that doesn't show up in tests, Quandt said. "I think the thing that sets anybody aside in any job is the attitude," he said. "It's their attitude toward life in general."
Hauser said she likes that freedom. "I'm too antsy to sit at a desk all day," she said.
