From staff reports

With little thought, the knowledge that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is short of conservation officers seems like a license to poach.

Sunday, August 15, 1999

With little thought, the knowledge that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is short of conservation officers seems like a license to poach.

After all, with nearly the same number of officers in the field as six decades ago, it would seem that anglers and hunters could get away with more today.

Their ranks may be down, but that doesn’t mean the lawbreakers have free reign. The DNR staff will still have their eyes open, and so should everyone else.

With a limited budget, cuts in enforcement officers are needed to keep the costs to taxpayers low.

With that limited cost, taxpayers themselves have added responsibility.

It is time to help the DNR to do what it is struggling to do on a limited budget. Everyone needs to pitch in and help protect the environment, not only by obeying the laws and regulations, but also by making sure others do and reporting any foul play.

Keeping the state agencies’ funding low is helping keep money in the taxpayers’ pockets, but there is still a price to pay.

Hopefully, we will pay with added respect and awareness, rather than with a damaged environment that has been raided by poachers and other lawbreakers.