Minnesota

The Obama administration has agreed to take a closer look at the air quality impacts associated with off-highway vehicle (OHV) use in portions of Superior National Forest that lie adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota.

According to a March 30 notice issued by the Forest Service's Eastern regional office, the government will re-evaluate a "no significant impact" finding associated with a new transportation plan announced last December for the Superior forest, including provisions governing OHV use on approximately 1,600 miles of forest.

Environmentalists appealed a December decision by Superior Forest Supervisor James Sanders authorizing the "travel management project" for the 3-million-acre forest, which abuts Lake Superior and the Canadian border and is home to several iconic species, including moose, black bears, gray wolves and Canada lynx. Nondesignated trails such as this one in the Superior National Forest have long been used by off-highway vehicles. Many such trails would be decommissioned under the service's travel management project. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service.

Local river wildlife advocate Richie Swanson will lead a two mile roundtrip “Walk of Reconciliation” through Aghaming Park and Preserve on Saturday, March 14 from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m., outlining damage done to the park from illegal off-road vehicles.

The walk will feature the observation of many native plants and animals, including redheaded woodpeckers, red shouldered hawks and rusty blackbirds.

During winter months, some motorized vehicles are allowed in parts of the park. But this year one of those vehicles seems to have damaged a gate that fences off an area recognized as a nesting place for the red shouldered hawk, leaving the gate hanging wide and obvious vehicle tracks gouging huge tracks through the mud. Swanson will lead his team to a 25 acre flood plain forest that he’s identified as “turned into a wasteland” by these illegal off-roaders.

Robert Manning

Couched in protecting our environment, chair Franzen of the Board of Crow Wing County Commissioners stated to the board, "I want to protect the environment as much as anyone else"... by putting ATVs on the ground.

ATVs running in our woods 24/7 all year long serves as a means to protect our environment? Not if you are a citizen who has firsthand experience of living nearby where these machines roam. As one of these citizens, I experience the degradation and damage by the ever increasing number of ATVs. Must we have our officials continually encourage destruction of our environment, our habitat, our sense of peace, quiet and safety on an ongoing basis?

This is not a welcome message to the Crow Wing County Board of Commissioners who claim, as their chair states, to be concerned with the environment on one hand, while on the other court large groups of ATV machines and riders from far distances (including China, we were told recently) to run the trails that Chair Franzen wishes to "put on the ground."

MARSHALL - Cory Lee Buchert, 31, of Lynd pleaded guilty in Lyon County District Court Thursday to a charge of criminal vehicular homicide.

Buchert drove the all-terrain vehicle in a crash Sept. 3, 2007 near Russell that killed Nichole Rathje, 27, of Marshall. Buchert drove under the influence of alcohol, court records said.

Rathje died from multiple traumatic injuries sustained in at least one crash, court records said.

Crow Wing County has applied the brakes to a proposed all-terrain vehicle trail and expects to look at other options on public land.

Few topics have fueled as much debate or been as polarizing in the county as ATV trails. On one hand designated trails are seen as a way to put controls on recreational riders and ease tensions with property owners. For others, the routes will serve as a traffic beacon drawing more noise, dust and safety issues. Finding middle ground has not proved to be easy.

The county recently canceled a planned Jan. 29 meeting about a proposed ATV trail with board supervisors from Fairfield, Perry Lake, Wolford, Irondale townships and the city of Emily.

DULUTH - The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources today announced its final rules on where off-highway vehicles can ride in the Cloquet Valley State Forest near Duluth. The plan will allow OHVs on all routes unless they are posted closed, the agency's so-called managed designation.

The decision is a victory for OHV enthusiasts who wanted continued open access to the forest. But it's a blow to many residents and environmental groups who wanted tighter controls on ATVs and other off-roaders.

Members of the Friends of the Cloquet Valley State Forest had hoped for a DNR plan that would have required specific trails to be marked as open before they could be used by ATVs and other OHVs, the DNR's so-called limited designation. DNR officials said they picked the managed plan because the agency controls only about 15 percent of the land within the forest and that it matched the rules expected to be adopted by St. Louis County, which manages 85 percent of the land within the forest boundaries.

Paul Boblett

Trails maintained by the Ideal Sno Pros snowmobile club were damaged this fall by offroad vehicles. The damaged trails, which include several miles of new trails, now have big ruts, some as deep as 18-20 inches.

This is disappointing news to many area snowmobiling enthusiasts as these trails are part of a much larger system that reach from the Pelican Lake area to Outing and Longville.

Trail coordinator Dick Wilske and club member Tom Hecker surveyed the damage in a remote area near Stewart Lake, and each pointed out several areas that could be hazardous to drivers this winter.

The Chisago County Board last week discussed how best to respond to complaints about off-road vehicle nuisances. They were advised there is no simple way to go about keeping the peace, when what private landowners are enjoying their property in a manner that is not "illegal." The county commissioners were advised by the county attorney and a deputy county attorney with years of experience dealing with nuisance matters-- that basic Constitutional rights have to be kept in focus when tackling this area of law.

The commissioners had requested legal review of ATV and dirt bike ordinances following the previous County Board meeting, where yet another complaint about abusive off-road recreational activity came before the Board.

Before the deer firearms season starts, hunters and recreational off-road vehicle riders should be aware of changes for forest trails passing through Crow Wing County.

The Crow Wing County Board supports the state decision limiting use of off-road vehicles during this season's firearms season for deer hunters. The state proposed limiting recreation use as a way to alleviate potential conflict between trail use. The goal is to avoid putting recreational riders in harm's way and prevent their vehicles from disrupting the deer hunter.

"Due to the inter-mixture of ownership between the state and the county this would serve to complement what the state is trying to do," said Tom Cowell, Crow Wing County land commissioner. "The emphasis on this - both on the state level and the county level - is more on an educational emphasis this year. We have communicated with all the local (off-highway vehicle) clubs and motorcycle clubs in the county just to let them know so they can try to avoid recreational riding during the rifle season."