For DNR officer, this is home

New face minds Cloquet lakes, trails

`The timing wasn't great, two weeks before the birth of his second son, but the opportunity for Tony Elwell and his family was too good to pass up.

"Otherwise, chances of getting back here were slim," said Elwell, the new face of the Department of Natural Resources in Cloquet. "We'd have to wait years, and we've always wanted to come back to this area. So, I put in for it."

Elwell's request was granted, and he started as the conservation officer for the Cloquet station in September, leaving behind the prairie and agricultural lands around Thief River Falls...