Audit: DNR misspent $300,000

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources misspent $300,000 in state money when it helped host a wildlife enforcement officers conference last year, a state audit has found.
The report, by the Office of the Legislative Auditor, also found that the DNR failed to follow state and agency policies.
The report recommends that the DNR work with the state attorney general’s office to get back $76,600 in profit earned by the Minnesota Conservation Officer Association and the North American Wildlife Enforcement Officers Association, two officer groups who organized the conference.
The audit criticized the DNR for ‘‘implicitly’’ allowing fundraising for the conference — even though such fundraising is against state law because of a conflict of interest. Money for the conference was donated by businesses and sporting good retailers, which the auditor said is a conflict of interest under state law.
Two DNR enforcement managers, Mike Hamm and his wife, Cathy Hamm, have been on paid leave since mid-May during the investigation. Mike Hamm is chief of the enforcement division, and Cathy Hamm is head of enforcement in the metro area. Cathy Hamm said the audit proves she did nothing wrong.
The audit does not place direct blame on either of the Hamms, but points out wrong decisions throughout the agency and in the commissioner’s office.
‘‘I definitely believe I should be reinstated,’’ Cathy Hamm told the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Cathy Hamm said she and her husband, though they don’t working directly together, were unfairly targeted during the investigation. Mike Hamm was not available for comment, the Pioneer Press said.
DNR Commissioner Mark Holsten has said he would take final responsibility for any wrongdoing associated with the conference, which took place in St. Paul in July 2007. The DNR has not finished its internal investigation, Holsten said.