Path, Park Work OK’D; DNR Gets Approval on Muskego Lake, Hank Aaron Trail Projects
By DARRYL ENRIQUEZ
The Big Muskego Lake Wildlife Area, the Southern Unit of Kettle Moraine State Forest near Eagle and the Hank Aaron State Trail in Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley are all poised to expand as a result of recent state action.
The state Natural Resources Board has approved a land purchase and donations of land and cash intended to improve natural resources in the Milwaukee and Waukesha areas.
For the existing 7-mile paved Hank Aaron trail, the board expanded the trail boundary to allow construction of a pedestrian bridge over the Menomonee River, which runs through the valley.
Also planned is redevelopment of the Valley Passage Tunnel under Canadian Pacific rail lines, said Richard Steffes, state Department of Natural Resources real estate director.
The board approved the original trail plan in late 1996 and a planned expansion westward by 5.5 miles along an abandoned railroad right of way last year.
The board approved an adjustment of the trail boundary that allows a small parcel on the south side of the river to be incorporated into the trail system. The trail could eventually link Lakeshore Park on Lake Michigan to Milwaukee County’s outlying Oak Leaf Trail.
Plans are to rework an old tunnel that brought south side workers to jobs in the Menomonee Valley.
“We’ll probably put a parking lot there for trail users,” and a pedestrian bridge will go over the river to the trail, Steffes said.
As for the state forest, the DNR was given board approval to buy 10 acres from Robert and Barbara Jean McCann for $215,000.
The McCann parcel will connect a 63-acre parcel to other state forestland west of Highway 67. The undeveloped property is about 6 acres of woods, 3 acres of grassland and a 1-acre kettle, or depression, of wetland. It’s all within an oak and hickory forest and a half-mile north of the village of Eagle.
The state forest is 35 miles west of Milwaukee and offers opportunities for camping, hiking, horseback riding, bird watching, fishing and hunting.
The department accepted a $10,000 donation from Walleyes for Tomorrow that will support the state’s Milwaukee River Walleye Restoration Project to raise fingerlings at a hatchery.
In addition, the state approved the transfer of 137.59 acres from the state Department of Transportation to the DNR for the Big Muskego Lake Wildlife Area.
The 3,800-acre wildlife area surrounds 2,073-acre Big Muskego Lake. The transferred land is south of the lake and borders Loomis Road.
The majority of the wildlife area is in the city of Muskego, but it extends into western Milwaukee and northern Racine counties. It’s made up of wetlands, grasslands, woods and farmland that protect shorelines and water quality. Big Muskego Lake is a shallow lake and wetlands complex that’s heavily used by sportsmen and waterfowl viewers.
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