HALLOCK — The Department of Natural Resources is suing the Kittson County sheriff and the sheriff's office to stop them from issuing "tags" allowing the taking and possession of elk.
The DNR filed the lawsuit Thursday, Aug. 7. It was first reported by the Star Tribune.
The agency alleges that Sheriff Mat Vig issued an "elk possession tag" to a farmer who shot an elk after it ate his hay and beet pulp.
Vig has no authority to issue a license or tag for possession of elk, the DNR said, arguing it is the agency in charge of such actions.
Neither Vig nor Kittson County has formally replied to the suit as of Friday.
According to the civil complaint, the DNR received a report of Vig issuing a permit in April.
In January, a farmer identified as CC complained about elk eating his crops, and Vig told him that "shooting elk may be an option to protect his property from damages," the complaint states.
Later that month, CC told Vig he shot an elk. Vig told him he wouldn't charge him with any crime and on Feb. 3, gave him an "elk possession tag."
The DNR says CC did not try to get a license for the elk before shooting it and did not report it to the DNR after the fact.
The agency said it and the defendants "are adverse to one another" about whether the sheriff's office can issue these permits, which is why it's seeking a legal judgment.
Elk were once common in Minnesota before being eliminated from the state. They were reintroduced in the '30s, but there are still only around 200 of them, concentrated in three herds in the state's far northwest.
The DNR can allow licensed hunters to take nuisance elk.
The agency describes elk as a "once-in-a-lifetime hunt." Only a handful of permits are issued each year through a lottery system, with licenses sometimes reserved for landowners.
There are no landowner licenses for the 2025 season, and there were only four hunter licenses available.
Permit numbers were lower than usual because elk numbers are lower than expected at a time when the agency is working with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa to reintroduce the species in the northeast.
Farmers have pushed back on expanding elk herds because of issues with destruction and depredation.
