Merrill native pursues career as Minnesota DNR conservation officer, inspired by her grandfather’s law enforcement career

Merrill native Calli Oberg currently serves residents of the State of Minnesota as a conservation officer. The daughter of Vicki and Chad Oberg, Calli is a 2018 Merrill High School graduate who went on to attend the University of Wisconsin through their Wausau campus and then finished her bachelor’s degree at UW-Stevens Point in 2022. Calli said her passion for the outdoors led her to seek work in the conservation field.
Employment with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) appealed to Calli because they have a unique CO Prep Program that allows those without law enforcement background or training an avenue to becoming a conservation officer. Entering the training academy confirmed her choice, Calli said, as she soon realized the Minnesota DNR division of law enforcement has some of the best training in the nation.
Much like Wisconsin, the state of Minnesota has a law enforcement division devoted to the state’s natural resources. Their conservation wardens are highly trained through their own in-house recruit academy that typically begins each spring and enables new recruit conservation wardens to hit their field-training portion of the academy just as the fall hunting seasons begin. Although the job of a conservation warden sounds like an outdoor enthusiast’s dream job, it is not without its dangers. To date, 23 members of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources have died in the line of duty while serving as conservation officers.
Joe Albert is the Communications Coordinator for the Enforcement Division of the Minnesota DNR. During an interview via email, he said open positions within the agency are few, and the candidates selected are some of the best. On average, a Conservation Officer Academy is held annually; however, some years the Academy is postponed if the number of vacancies is lower than average.
Albert said Minnesota usually gets several hundred applications for the open positions and typically selects 15-19 officers per year to hire and accept into the Academy. Recruits describe the Academy training as very intense and typically one or two of those officers drop out, realizing this is not the career they envisioned.Calli’s class, which began in May, remains intact—something the Minnesota DNR takes pride in, knowing they hired an exceptional group to begin their honorable careers with the agency.
After classroom instruction is complete, Albert said new wardens are sent into the field for a 16-week field-training program. Here the recruits are paired with three separate experienced wardens in various parts of the state. Expectations of new wardens become progressively higher with each pairing. By their fourth phase of training, conservation officer candidates are essentially expected to perform on their own, Albert said.
Calli said her team of field training officers were able to help her take what she learned in the classroom into the field so she could perform all of the duties of a conservation officer on her own.
When asked, Calli said her grandfather, Jay Proft Sr., inspired her passion for the field of law enforcement. Jay— better known to many as Gooze—served the citizens of Merrill as a police officer for 20 years before a work-related injury forced his early retirement.
Within the field of law enforcement, there are many unique jobs—from federal to state to local—but Calli said she was drawn to becoming a conservation officer because this unique position enables her to both protect and serve her community and to protect its natural resources.
The Minnesota DNR has 155 field stations across the state, and new wardens can choose where they want to be stationed based on vacant posts. After Calli completes her field training, she expects to be stationed in Winona County where she lives with her fiancé, Eric Weber, who is serving an apprenticeship with Excel Energy.
In August, Calli’s family traveled to Camp Riley near Little Falls, Minn., to attend her graduation ceremony. Each recruit is expected to have a family member or loved one complete one of the final steps of the graduation—the honorable pinning of the badge. Calli chose her grandfather, Jay Proft Sr., to pin her badge, a very fitting choice, as now a new generation will continue to serve honorably in the field of law enforcement.