Enforcement Division
Michael R. Hamm, Director |
About the director Colonel Mike Hamm has been a Conservation Officer since 1977 and has been with the DNR since 1972, when he began as a parks worker at Lindbergh State Park. Hamm also worked in the DNR Division of Fish and Wildlife. Since joining DNR Enforcement in 1977, Hamm served as a Conservation Officer in Worthington and St. Cloud, Regional Training Officer in New Ulm, Statewide Safety Training Coordinator, District Supervisor in Mille Lacs Lake, Two Harbors and the Metro area, Internal Strategic Manager, and Regional Manager before becoming Director and Chief Conservation Officer.
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Joe Frear of Waseca as Conservation Officer of the Year : Read More... |
The division is responsible for enforcing natural resource laws. This includes state laws and regulations related to hunting, commercial and sport fishing, trapping, and fur buying; rules pertaining to state parks, campgrounds and recreational areas under DNR jurisdiction; all-terrain vehicle, boating, off-highway motorcycle, and snowmobile regulations; laws dealing with the alteration of lake beds, streams and wetlands; shooting preserve rules; and laws governing the harvest of Minnesota's wild rice crop. The division holds periodic sales to dispose of firearms, hunting, fishing and trapping equipment, and furs confiscated from violators of the game and fish laws. Minnesota conservation officers operate from their own private homes and their phone numbers are listed in local directories.
The division supervises several training programs including Advanced Hunter Education, Bowhunter Education, Firearm Safety, Snowmobile Safety, and Off-Highway Motorcycle and All-Terrain Vehicle Safety.
Other responsibilities include aerial pollution surveillance of lakes and rivers, and, in cooperation with the DNR Section of Wildlife, aerial surveys of moose, beaver, deer, and pheasant populations.
- DNR conservation officer receives State Police Chief Association Medal of Honor (News Release - May 6, 2008)
- DNR staffer Brian Mies is named North American Wildlife Enforcement Officer of the Year (News Release - July 24, 2007)
