DNR commemorates two fallen U.P. conservation officers
The Department of Natural Resources today remembered two Upper Peninsula conservation officers who died in the line of duty during the month of October.
Conservation Officer Andrew Schmeltz died on Oct. 20, 1936, near the Carp River in Marquette County. Schmeltz was working a complaint of illegal trapping when he encountered an unlicensed hunter with a .22 caliber rifle.
During the contact, Schmeltz was struck with the butt of the gun and shot twice in the chest. The killer hid the officer’s body and returned later that night, attempting to cover up the crime by setting off dynamite on the body. The man eventually confessed to the murder and the location of the officer’s body.
“Conservation Officer Andrew Schmeltz
was killed while following up on a complaint from a local citizen,” said DNR Law Enforcement Division Chief Gary Hagler “Conservation officers then, as now, work closely with natural resource users.”
Conservation Officer Thomas Mellon died Oct. 23, 1947, when he was piloting a boat carrying five other men toward a wildfire along the Manistique River in Schoolcraft County. Mellon was seated in the rear of the boat, operating the outboard motor, when the boat hit a submerged deadhead in the river. The river was approximately 12 feet deep and about 160 feet wide, with a strong current, as the boat started taking on water and began to sink.
Mellon and the other men ended up in the water. Four men made it to shore and attempted to rescue the other two. CO Mellon and Conrad Oberg were lost; their bodies were recovered later that night.
“Conservation Officer Thomas Mellon died responding by boat to a forest fire in Michigan’s rugged Upper Peninsula.” said Chief Hagler. “Conservation officers respond to a wide variety of emergencies that put themselves in danger to protect the public and natural resources.”
This year marks the 125th anniversary of conservation law enforcement in Michigan. Schmeltz and Mellon are two of the 12 fallen conservation officers commemorated by the DNR earlier this year on May 15, when the department dedicated the site for a memorial to conservation officers who have died while protecting this state’s natural resources and the citizens who enjoy them.
Anyone seeking more information or who wishes to contribute to the construction of the memorial can get details at www.mcoa-online.net.
“Conservation officers’ profession can lead them into harm’s way,” Hagler said. “We will always remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.”
