17 January 2006

 

Mark Holsten, Commissioner

Department of Natural Resources

500 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, MN 55155-4040

 

          Re:     In the Matter of the Trespass Citation Issued to Chad William                               Loeffler, Citation No. 44790, OAH Docket No. 58-2000-17755-2

 

                    And

 

                    In the Matter of the Trespass Citation Issued to Eric Cook, Citation                     No. 44795, OAH Docket No. 58-2000-17754-2

 

Dear Commissioner Holsten:

 

            The above-entitled matters came on for a prehearing telephone conference call on January 8, 2007 at 10:00 a.m.  Pursuant to the request of Messrs. Loeffler and Cook, the matters had been consolidated and were heard together.  Participating in the call were the Administrative Law Judge, Conservation Officer Doug Lage, Chad William Loeffler and Eric Cook.  All participants agreed that no formal hearing would be needed, and the ALJ could decide the matter based on what was discussed at the prehearing telephone conference.

 

          The facts are as follows.  On November 18, 2006, Messrs. Loeffler and Cook were in rural Pipestone County hunting with friends, including a man named Ron Coopman.  Mr. Coopman lives in the area, and Messrs. Loeffler and Cook had hunted the area with him for several years. 

 

          At approximately 12:15 p.m., the hunting party crossed the northeast corner of property owned by the residents of 1634 231st St., Ruthon, MN.  The residents are a married couple named Baartman.  Ms. Baartman saw the hunting party and telephoned her husband to find out whether he had given permission to hunters to be on the land, which the Baartmans regard as pasture land.  Mr. Baartman told his wife that he had not given permission, so Ms. Baartman went outside and called to the hunters.  The hunters went on shooting briefly.  At that point, one of the party saw Ms. Baartman and indicated to the group that they should leave.  The hunting party then crossed to the adjacent property, which is owned by one Verlyn Dewilde.

Letter to Mark Holsten, Commissioner

January 17, 2006

Page Two

 

          Messrs. Loeffler and Cook testified that Mr. Coopman had obtained Veryln Dewilde’s permission to hunt Dewilde’s land.  According to Messrs. Loeffler and Cook, Mr. Dewilde was the lessee of the northeast parcel of the Baartman property where the hunters had been located when Ms. Baartman saw them.  They believed that permission had been granted to hunt the leased property as well as the property owned by Mr. Dewilde. They also testified that the land was not fenced.  They described the land as wet and unplanted.

 

          Conservation Officer Lage testified that he had interviewed Mr. Coopman, about the incident. According to the Conservation Officer Lage, Mr. Coopman, acknowledged fault in taking the party onto the Baartman land.  Mr. Coopman had said nothing to the officer about the property in question being leased by Mr. Dewilde.

 

          In their defense, Messrs. Loeffler and Cook argue that the property in question is not “agricultural” land and that they had the permission of the lessee to hunt the land. By statute, “agricultural land” means land:


          (1) that is plowed or tilled;

          (2) that has standing crops or crop residues;

          (3) within a maintained fence for enclosing domestic livestock;

          (4) that is planted native or introduced grassland or hay land; or

          (5) that is planted to short rotation woody crops as defined in section                    41B.048, subdivision 4.

 

Minn. Stat. § 97B.001.

         

          Based on these facts, I find that Messrs. Loeffler and Cook did not commit the violation for which they were cited.  It does not appear that the land on which they hunted meets the definition of agricultural land.  In addition, the statute makes it a violation to enter land without first obtaining the “permission of the owner, occupant, or lessee.”  Here, it appears that the lessee granted advance permission to the hunters to be on the land.

 

          Under the circumstances, I recommend that citations numbers 44790 and 44795 be rescinded. I am closing our file in this matter and returning the record to you. 

 

          Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 116.072, subd. 6(e), the Commissioner must wait at least five days after receipt of this recommendation before he makes a final decision. Within those five days, the persons to whom the order is issued may comment on this recommendation. The Commissioner must send a copy of

Letter to Mark Holsten, Commissioner

January 17, 2006

Page Three

 

his final decision to Messrs. Loeffler and Cook. If the Commissioner fails to act within 90 days after the record before the Commissioner closes, this recommendation will become the final decision in this matter.

 

                                                                     

                                                                      _s/Linda F. Close___________

                                                                      LINDA F. CLOSE

                                                                      Administrative Law Judge

 

Enc.

Cc:     Officer Doug Lage

          Chad William Loeffler

          Eric Cook