From Joel Patenaude...

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Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 10:48:10 -0500
From: "Joel"
To: "Brook Waalen" , "drums >> "Alan & Sue Drum""
Subject: Re: State Trails Policy Committee needs to hear other side
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Brook,

FYI, looking through my material from the last meeting, I see that Dale
Crisler and Tim McRaith, co-coordinators of the IAT Superior Lobe
Chapter, sent a letter to the committee.

They note the following:

1) Five miles of IAT have been surrendered to ATVs and "users of the
Ice
Age Trail have been displaced and are now required to use the shoulders
of roads" including a bridge on State Hwy. 48.

2) An inn-to-inn hiking program between Birchwood and Haugen is no
longer a tourism option. Neither is a hiking route from the
Burnett/Baron County Line to the Murphy Flowage Rec Area.

3) They conclude, "Before any additional funding is authorized for
ATVs,
we feel ATV funds should be allocated to pay for the trail that has
been
confiscated at the expense of those who wish to enjoy Wisconsin's
solitude and natural wonders on the Ice Age Trail."

I e-mailed both Crisler and McRaith to encourage them to testify at the
next meeting. Their important letter is getting lost in the shuffle.

Joel



Brook Waalen wrote:

>Joel,
>
>I'll be there.
>
>Item of interest: A staffer from the American Hiking Society is
passing
>through Wisconsin and is currently on the Ice Age Trail. This fall he
>hiked sections of the Tri-County Corridor up north and the entire
Gandy
>Dancer. He reported on Monday that the ATV damage on the Gandy Dancer
is
>ubiquitous.
>
>Brook
>715-472-2922
>brookwaalen@lakeland.ws
>
>
>
> _____
>
>From: Joel [mailto:silentsports@charterinternet.com]
>Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 5:04 PM
>To: Sue and Alan Drum; Brook Waalen; Mark Haag; Jim Wise; Ron Bergin;
>Dar Ward, Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin; Dale and Penny Schaber;
>iat@iceagetrail.org
>Subject: State Trails Policy Committee needs to hear other side
>
>Dear Sue Drum & Northwoods Citizens for Responsible Recreation,
>
>I just got the notice that the next meeting of the the Special
Committee
>on State Trails Policy will be Nov. 10 in Merrill. It falls right when
I
>need to be laying out the December magazine but I'll try to be there.
>
>All the testimony heard last Thursday at the first meeting of the
State
>Trails Policy was related to increasing ATV trails and access to
trails.
>The committee desperately needs to hear the other side; where and how
>ATVs have been detrimental to nonmotorized trails, other users,
private
>property ect. Without having to face the other side, this committee
runs
>the risk of thinking multiple use trails are actually a good idea and
>ATVs ought to have free reign of our parklands.
>
>The new SCORP (the 2005-2010 Wisconsin Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor
>Recreation Plan) has just been released by the DNR and includes, for
the
>first time, a chapter on "compatibility and conflict." It states
>outright, "It is evident that ATV riding is incompatible with every
>other land-based activity but snowmobiling."
>
>The full SCORP is worth reading; it includes alot of ammo for our
side.
>It is available here:
>http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/planning/scorp/reports/demog_profiles/
>
>The author of the compatibility/conflict section, UW-Madison Prof.
David
>Marcoullier, is serving on the committee, as is Mike McFadzen,
>cross-country skiing and biking advocate who is also the current
>chairman of the Governor's Council on State Trails. I am serving on
the
>committee as well, but the three of us need outside support just to
>bring the silent sports perspective to the table, let alone to the
>forefront.
>
>Here's one thing for which we might want to agitate.
>
>WATVA VP Rob McDonald told the committee his organization is working
>with Ice Age Trail chapters and other nonmotorized folks on the issue
of
>ATV damage but that "we haven't found a solution." I asked him if he's
>looked at or would support replicating what Minnesota has: A
designated
>restitution fund for property owners that can demonstrate ATV have
>wrecked their land but can not ID who was responsible. McConnell said
>the Minnesota fund, which started with $500,000, was "fatally flowed"
>and "there's a problem with the people who have applied for the
money."
>He did not provide details even when I pressed him during a break in
the
>proceedings.
>
>Interestingly, when I asked WATVA President Randy Harden about a year
>ago if he would support such a concept, he said yes, unequivocably.
And
>last June, I asked Wisconsin State Parks Director Bill Morrissey the
>same question. He said I was the first to suggest it but that it was a
>good idea and he would make that part of any OHV recreation area
>proposal his department might make. I need to do some research on how
>the Minnesota fund has been used, but I think that this might be a
path
>we should pursue.
>
>But to get support for this concept or any other means to control the
>proliferation of ATV riding on public lands, we need to catalog the
>damage and costs of remediation so far. If possible, we should get
land
>managers and local law enforcement to testify to the widespread nature
>of the problem. We need to get folks from all corners of the state to
>tell the committee what they're dealing with.
>
>Because so far, all we've heard are stories of ATV riders 1) being
>threated with tickets and arrest if they merely cross nonmotorized
>trails, 2) facing beauracratic hurdles to extending legal ATV trails,
3)
>how not enough ATV registration fees and fuel taxes are coming back to
>the counties for ATV trail maintenance, and 4) how thousands more
miles
>of year-round ATV trails are needed in this state.
>
>Hearing only this, committee chairman Breske said repeatedly, "This is
>what this committee is for, to clear up this garbage." Another
lawmaker
>on the committee, Rep. Ott, railed about how there are not enough
things
>for young people to do, and the solution is to provide more places
where
>they can ride ATVs. (Nevermind addressing the youth obesity epidemic
>we're facing, just so long as the kids are outside!)
>
>We need to shift the tone and substance of this debate toward the
>quality and kind of trails and healthful recreational opportunities we
>ought to have in this state. We heard a bit about how nonmotorized
trail
>funding is down 30 percent and still falling, but we need to hear more
>about the long-term implications of this.
>
>Yes, I did get the disc but I haven't had a chance to absorb its
>contents.
>
>Just to write this I had to take a break from working on the November
>issue of the mag, and I don't have time to spare this week. If you can
>get a head start on rounding up our allies, submitting materials to
the
>committee and on the docket to testify Nov. 10, please do. Feel free
to
>use some of the thoughts I'm sharing here.
>
>Joel Patenaude, Editor
>Silent Sports magazine
>
>P.S. The committee heard from Holly Tomlanovich, treasurer of the
Vilas
>County Alliance of ATV Clubs. She didn't say much substantive, but
left
>many committee members with the impression that it is really
unfortunate
>Vilas County has only a half mile of ATV trail. Your eloquent letter,
>pointing out that the lack of ATVs has helped Vilas County
economically,
>was included in out packets but not discussed.
>
>See what we're up against?
>
>
>
>Sue and Alan Drum wrote:
>Joel, I just received notice from Beth Piliouras that the next State
>Trails meeting is Friday November 10th, 10:00 AM, Merrill City Hall.
I
>used to live in Merrill so I'll be there. Sue
>
>