Private Vehicles Still Prohibited on Upper Red Lake After Rescues of Ice Fishermen

UPPER RED LAKE, MN (trfnews.i234.me) Upper Red Lake, Minnesota will remain closed to private vehicles for now, following numerous ice rescues.
a vehicle restriction on upper Red Lake remains in effect this in from the Beltrami County Sheriff’s department at 5:30 p.m. on this Wednesday out of waskish the order prohibiting vehicles on upper Red Lake that was issued December 30th will remain in place following a meeting in waskish to assess the ice situation and identify a team to monitor conditions on Wednesday January 3rd Bel tramy County uh deputies met with uh local Reserve operators kellier fire rescue Minnesota Department of Natural Resource conservation officers and officers from the Red Lake Nation Resort operators who routin routinely check ice conditions reported there are still significant ice cracks that have resulted in several ice flows to continue to move in the water a large and significant crack runs along the Southshore all the way to the border of the Red Lake Nation a several football football field in size opening are present while some parts of the lake have nearly a foot of ice it is inconsistent due to the lake not being fully Frozen and continuing ice movement during the meeting other safety concerns were brought up with people being irresponsible and making social media videos at the very edge of the ice mere feet from falling in one Resort owner remark uh common scene is lack common sense is lacking when people are trying to get a tick talk vi video with open water at their feet the concern was also shared of uh people crossing temporary Bridges to get across cracks and then the Gap widens to the point of needing airboats and other vessels to evacuate people other concerns were the lack of snow and the lake being unnavigable in previous years Resorts would maintain ice roads that limited people from going too far into dangerous areas this year the absence of snow is not precluding any Anglers from from going to the Far Corners of the lake the resort operators and guide Services have been granted permission to operate Motor Vehicles on the ice for the wellness and the well-being of their customers this will prevent Anglers from driving beyond what has been evaluated by the resorts where many of the ice rescues have occurred Sheriff rig says quote for every call we receive of someone going in the ice I’m sure there are at least five that are handled locally we don’t know about he finished many of you Resort owners are your customers First Responders and you assist them that’s why I’m allowing you to serve your customers closing the lake was not an easy decision but many consultations took place prior to making this decision this is not an opportunity to issue tickets or generate Revenue Sheriff rig says my goal is not to write a single ticket but rather in the interest of Public Safety a collaborative effort to ensure Public Safety is the goal of this group ice fishing and winter tour tourism is a staple of the local economy the group determined with the forecast and winds no checks will be would be conducted until Monday as the lake won’t have enough time to heal each time the conditions are evaluated that will be taken into consideration when the order is rescinded and to what extent private parties remain from Pro prohibited from operating their motor vehicles on the ice Resort operators and guide services are allowed to service their customers additionally air boats boats hovercrafts and buyant vessels such as the sherp are allowed Sheriff rig says we don’t want to open ourselves up to having to close it down again but rather get to a point where it’s beneficial for the rest of the season unquote that was from Sheriff Jason Rigs of Bel trammy County I’m Neil Berg reporting for I trfnews.i234.me