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Minnesota's 2020 class of 13 conservation officers are in the field in a heightened period of need for protecting the state's natural resources. Their arrival fills vacancies at field stations across the state and helps monitor the masses who've flocked in greater numbers outdoors during the pandemic.
Rodmen Smith, their boss, is upbeat about the group as the director of the Enforcement Division of the Department of Natural Resources, and mindful of what all of his ranks are up against. Minnesota is cycling through seasons of next-level activity. Like spring, summer and fall, winter has been busier than normal, from more ice anglers to more state trail users behind motors and on skis. Many of the people are newcomers, too, making education paramount, Smith said.