DNR leaders put on leave

May 13, 2008 05:55 pm

— Two top Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officials have been placed on paid administrative leave in an investigation over a game warden conference.
Col. Mike Hamm, the state’s chief conservation officer, and his wife, Capt. Cathy Hamm, were placed on leave Monday.
An outside firm is looking into their handling of the state-supported conference held last year.
The Star Tribune reported last week that the DNR’s enforcement division used $383,000 in public money for the gathering of game wardens from across North America.
The newspaper reported that some of the state’s conservation officers also solicited private donations for the conference and were required to attend.
DNR spokeswoman Colleen Coyne says the DNR hasn’t hired an outside investigator yet but wanted to eliminate any appearance of conflict of interest by putting the Hamms on leave.
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Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com