Promoting quiet recreation in Wisconsin.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006

A report from the ATV Stakeholders Meeting, pt. 1

I will post this email from Sue Drum in three parts:



"Hi everyone,

We had our first ATV Stakeholders Meeting, Tuesday, May 9th, 2006 from 9:30 AM to 2:30PM at Reulands Catering on Hiway 51 in Woodruff. Thirteen (13) out of the 17 members appointed met to begin the process of finding a site for a sustainable ATV trail in the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest. Dennis Leith is our Team Leader and Bill Klase, from UWEX, Rhinelander, is our facilitator

According to the NHAL State Forest Masterplan, the Natural Resources Board has directed the Stakeholders to act as a citizens advisory group and present final ATV trail recommendations to the Sponsor Team from the DNR-Division of Forestry by mid February, 2007. The DNR will review these recommendations and present them to the Natural Resources Board at their April 2007 meeting. Stakeholder decisions will be made by consensus and not by unanimous vote.

Tim Miller, WDNR-Regional Program Manager, Ladysmith, was the key person in developing the new (1 year old) DNR Guidelines for ATV trails on state land. The goal of these ATV trail criteria is to design, site and maintain ATV trails that provide a quality experience for the user and which are sustainable. If an appropriate site can not be found by consensus, an ATV trail will not be established.

There are seven trail siting criteria for state lands which include the following: adverse impacts on natural resources, rider safety, public opinion and minimizing impacts for other recreational users, impact on local economy, local cooperation and support, assess need and availability of law enforcement to patrol trail."

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