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ESCANABA -- There are 25 Michigan DNR conservation officers in the Upper Peninsula. But you'll rarely find these conservation officers, or COs, in the field office. The majority of their day is spent in the great outdoors.

They can enforce any and all state laws. But Conservation Officer John Wenzel's primary duties are anything to do with the natural resources, like hunting, fishing, timber trespass, and recreational activities.

There's one common winter violation he encounters.

“That would be people who don't have their trail permits,” explains Wenzel. “They just don't buy them because they don't want to pay the money, and they try to get away with it. That’s the biggest one we see."

Wenzel covers Schoolcraft, Alger, but mostly, Delta County.

One of the challenges on the job is being so short-staffed.

The Law Enforcement Division receives a majority of its funding from the Game and Fish Fund, which is funded by hunting and fishing license revenue. Because of decreases in the number of licenses sold and the rising cost of operations, the division faces budgetary issues and can't often afford to fill vacancies.

There are currently 12 vacant CO positions in the U.P.

“I always like to see more of us out here,” Wenzel said. “It seems like we're running thin, especially in our busy times, like deer season and fish runs and the snowmobile season. There’s just not a lot of us out here doing the job."

There are five COs that work out of the Escanaba office. They also assist many other law enforcement agencies regularly. The conservation officers often respond to back-up calls from other agencies for traffic stops, search and rescue, and domestic situations.