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Forest Master Plan Strikes ATV Trail; But Natural Resources Board Leaves Possibility to Build One in the Future

Posted on: Thursday, 27 October 2005, 18:00 CDT

By LEE BERGQUIST

Tomahawk The state Natural Resources Board approved a new master plan Wednesday for the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest that kept an 8- to 10-mile ATV trail out of the park. But the board held open the possibility that ATV trails could one day be built there.

The master plan will guide the state's largest forest in the next 15 years. The new plan has been under development since 1997 and calls for adding new campsites, creating a new non-motorized recreational area and eventually expanding the northern boundary to Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

But all the provisions and many more were overshadowed by questions about what role the increasingly popular all-terrain vehicles should have in the 225,000-acre forest.

Although ATV proponents have long pushed for trails in the forest, especially those that might connect to others outside, DNR officials said the public has been overwhelmingly opposed to them.

Last month, the Department of Natural Resources made final modifications to the forest's master plan and in a key change removed the ATV trail near Little Rock and Camp lakes west of U.S. Highway 51 and north of Woodruff.

"It wasn't really highly supported," Dennis A. Leith, superintendent of the forest, told board members.

But DNR planners also held open the possibility that ATV trails will eventually be built in the forest. They are organizing a stakeholder group that will meet over the next 18 months, or perhaps longer, in the hope of striking a compromise.

"I see the trends," Leith said in an interview. "I don't think that we can stick our head in the sand and say no to ATVs forever."

Randy Harden, president of the Wisconsin ATV Association, had pushed for a network of trails, but as opposition mounted, his group threw its support behind a smaller loop, which also came under fire.

Registrations of ATVs are expected to surpass snowmobile registrations in Wisconsin this year. Uncertain snow conditions and the ability to use the machines virtually all year long have attracted many outdoor enthusiasts to ATVs.

Under questioning from board members, Harden acknowledged that the sport is hurt by the "1%" of ATV riders who cause damage by moving off trails and driving too fast. In response to a question from board member Christine L. Thomas of Stevens Point, he said he would support heavy fines for off-road riding that harms the environment, much like the $2,000 penalty the DNR metes out for those who poach deer.

At Wednesday's meeting, most of the 17 people who spoke on the master plan opposed ATVs. Some produced photos of purported damage by ATVs, and others talked about their noise and incompatibility with life in the North.

"Just because someone has come up with another machine that is noisy and has an internal combustion engine doesn't mean that we have to build trails for them," said June Schmaal of Arbor Vitae.

Other major facets of the master plan include:

-- Building the 2,553-acre Bittersweet Lake Recreation Area, an area for quiet, non-motorized use.

-- Adding 160 modern and 76 rustic campsites to a base of 1,000 sites.

-- Building 20 to 25 miles of mountain biking trails and a paved 1.6-mile bike trail at Crystal Lake.

-- Expanding the northern boundary through future acquisitions so the forest could eventually reach the Michigan border and connect with the Ottawa National Forest.

Copyright 2005, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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