DNR adds two K-9 teams, One stationed in Two Harbors

Lake County’s shoreline, inland lakes and public lands now sit inside a bigger Minnesota DNR K-9 network, and Two Harbors remains one of the places that network is anchored. With one DNR team stationed in town and two more newly certified handlers added elsewhere in the state, the agency now has nine dog-handler teams it can call on for missing-person searches, aquatic invasive species checks, evidence recovery and wildlife enforcement.

The newest teams are Conservation Officer Matt Brodin with K-9 Molly in Brainerd and Conservation Officer Mitch Nowak with K-9 Hank in St. Peter. The DNR said both pairs spent several months in intensive training before earning detection certification, which puts them in service for fish and game enforcement, search and rescue, officer protection and help with evidence detection for other agencies.

For North Shore residents and visitors, the local connection is Conservation Officer Cassie Block and K-9 Jet in Two Harbors. The rest of the statewide roster includes Capt. Phil Mohs and K-9 Mack in the metro area, CO Mike Krauel and K-9 Bolt in Mora, CO Luke Gutzwiller and K-9 Earl in Montevideo, CO Dustin Roemeling and K-9 Cora in Worthington, CO Annette Schlag and K-9 Trapper in Rochester, and CO Jake Swedberg and K-9 Axel in Detroit Lakes.

The DNR said the unit has operated since 1991, and the latest expansion follows a 2025 jump that took the team from four dog-handler pairs to eight. The agency said the dogs and handlers train together 16 hours a month, while each handler and dog trains every day, a pace meant to keep the unit ready for fast calls across Minnesota.

That readiness matters on the North Shore, where summer traffic, boat launches, backcountry trails and shoreline access can quickly create work for conservation officers. A Minnesota Conservation Volunteer feature published in May and June said the four dogs added in 2025 conducted hundreds of aquatic invasive species checks statewide, including zebra mussel detection, and helped on cases ranging from missing persons to shell casings, poaching evidence and a firearm recovery tied to the Red Lake Nation and the FBI.

Mohs said the teams increase the DNR’s ability to “protect Minnesota’s people and natural resources and make the agency more effective and efficient.” For Lake County, that means the Two Harbors K-9 post remains part of a broader public-safety tool just as the busy outdoor season gets underway.