Week of July 7, 2025
The 11th week of the 2025 CO Academy focused again on the water, specifically topics such as basic boat operation, boat approaches, and all aspects of watercraft-related enforcement.
There’s a reason new conservation officers spend so much time (at least two weeks) learning about watercraft and their duties surrounding them: Albeit to varying degrees, water-related enforcement is a vital part of every COs’ job; COs often use boats as they work to protect Minnesota’s people and natural resources; and people can be found recreating on open water throughout the year in Minnesota. (Spring, summer and fall are busiest, but where there’s open water in the winter you can bet people will find it.)
A few of the week’s highlights:
- Learning about and practicing trailering boaters in a variety of locations and conditions.
- Launching boats and loading and unloading them.
- Making enforcement stops of other boats.
- Practicing advanced watercraft maneuvers.
- Testing on water survival and rescue scenarios.
The 10th week of the Conservation Officer Academy began a several-weeks focus on COs’ work on and around the water – a vital aspect of the job given the importance of lakes, rivers, and other waters to Minnesota.
Here’s some of what the week entailed:
- Water survival training, which included swimming techniques, defensive tactics in the water, staying safe while loaded down with duty equipment, and an underwater obstacle course. The training also included instruction on performing water rescues.
- Training surrounding public water, wetlands, and aquatic invasive species enforcement. This included work on specific enforcement actions that COs are involved in, including cease and desist orders and resource protection notifications.
The primary topic of the ninth week of the Conservation Officer Academy was alcohol and the various instances in which conservation officers may encounter it while on the job. Some of the most common scenarios? While checking anglers, boaters, hunters, and recreational vehicle operators. There also are times when conservation officers are involved in routine traffic steps that involve people driving under the influence.
The conservation officer candidates learned about Minnesota laws related to alcohol and drug impairment and trained on the National Association of Boating Law Administrators standardized field sobriety test. They also participated in scenarios specific to driving while intoxicated, hunting while intoxicated, and underage consumption of alcohol.
In addition to alcohol training, the week also included the conservation officer candidates learning about land navigation tools, including compasses, GPS, and OnX.
Halfway there.
The 13 conservation officer candidates are at the halfway point of their CO Academy training, which began at the end of April. They’ve learned a lot about what it takes and what it means to be a DNR conservation officer and are growing more every day in their confidence and readiness for the job.
During the eighth week of the CO Academy, the training focused primarily on emergency vehicle operations with their patrol trucks and all-terrain vehicle operation during the day and at night. COs use their patrol trucks every day, and ATVs are becoming increasingly important as more and more people in Minnesota use them, so gaining familiarity with all aspects of both vehicles is vital.
During their emergency vehicle operation course training, they learned about emergency response, pursuit, and conducting high-risk stops. ATV training consisted of loading/unloading the machines from their patrol vehicles, traffic stops, and emergency response training.
As with every week at the Academy, the end of the week included scenarios and exams on which the conservation officer candidates were graded.
With the seventh week of the Conservation Officer Academy at Camp Ripley now come and gone, the 13 conservation officer candidates are nearly halfway done with this part of their journey to becoming COs. They will complete the Academy in mid-August, then spread out across the state to train in the field with experienced officers until the end of the year.
The seventh week of the CO Academy included:
- Learning about COs’ role in enforcing environmental laws, including illegal dumping and fires, as well as air and water pollution. While these are outside COs’ core game and fish-related work, they’ve become increasingly important in recent years.
- Fire training with the Camp Ripley Fire Department.
- Lessons on the state’s trespass law, including its legal definition, methods for posting land, and some of the exemptions that exist for entering lands.
- Becoming familiar with the DNR’s K9 Unit and its many capabilities.
- Discussions about ginseng and state laws surrounding its collection.
- Learning about providing CPR, first aid, Narcan, and the use of EPI pens.
During the sixth week of the Conservation Officer Academy at Camp Ripley, the 13 conservation officer candidates spent a lot of time learning about some of the most foundational aspects of being a CO – conducting license (angling, big- and small-game, and waterfowl) and registration checks. The latter included gaining an understanding of what all-terrain vehicle, off-highway motorcycle and vehicle, and watercraft registrations look like.
In addition, the candidates were evaluated on their understanding of the laws and subjected to real-world scenarios. They also spent time training to identify a wide variety of fish and game species.
The conservation officer candidates now have completed four weeks of their CO Academy training. They’ve also begun their weekly scenario training, where they take what they’ve learned in the classroom and apply it to real situations they’re likely to encounter in the field. They’re evaluated on their performance during the scenarios. In addition, they learned about the various firearms actions, practiced interview techniques, and earned their ATV, firearms, and snowmobile safety training certification.
The conservation officer candidates now have completed four weeks of their CO Academy training. They’ve also begun their weekly scenario training, where they take what they’ve learned in the classroom and apply it to real situations they’re likely to encounter in the field. They’re evaluated on their performance during the scenarios. In addition, they learned about the various firearms actions, practiced interview techniques, and earned their ATV, firearms, and snowmobile safety training certification.
During the third week of the Academy, the 13 conservation officer candidates received training in the areas of defensive tactics, handguns, and shotguns. They spent most of their week in the gym or on the range. Such training is a key part of conservation officers’ daily readiness plan to ensure their safety as they work to protect Minnesota’s people and natural resources. In addition, the candidates also spent an evening with two of the officers who were part of the previous CO Academy to learn more about their experiences.
The 13 conservation officer candidates now have finished the first two weeks of the CO Academy at Camp Ripley. This week at the Academy included a variety of administrative tasks and got into the finer details of being a DNR conservation officer. A few of the highlights from the week follow.
The COCs:
- Received their state-issued trucks and worked on backing trailers.
- Practiced identifying common game and fish species in Minnesota.
- Trained on writing reports and communicating via radio.
- Discussed conservation officer authorities.
- Learned about collecting, photographing, and properly documenting evidence in the field.
The 2025 DNR Conservation Officer Academy kicked off April 28, 2025, with 13 recruits beginning 16 weeks of intensive training at Camp Ripley. During the first week, the conservation officer candidates spent much of their time learning about the Enforcement Division and its history, getting acclimated to the DNR in general, and getting to know their “litter mates.” They received specific training on items including their body worn cameras and working with the media. This year’s class of candidates includes seven individuals who came to DNR Enforcement via the CO Prep program, which is a pathway for those without previous law enforcement experience to become a conservation officer. Those seven people spent four months at Hennepin Technical College before starting at the CO Academy.
