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DNR presents plan for ATV managementBy T.W. Budig Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Allen Garber envisions all motorized vehicles one day being banned from informal trails or driving cross country in state forests, ATV traffic being restricted to designated ATV trails. "We believe motorized vehicles off trails in state forests is not appropriate," he said. Still, there are some 200,000 ATV riders in Minnesota, said Garber. And without providing them with a place to ride, they think theyâll ride in places where they donât want them to ride, he said. Currently, ATV riding is permitted in all but four state forests. There are some 600 miles of designated ATV trails but some 6,000 miles of informal trails crossing state forest lands. Recently, the environmental problems posed by ATVs have been highlighted in news reports. The plan also includes adjacent county forest lands in Lake County. Under a joint agreement with the county, the DNR proposes to manage some 35 miles of the Moose Walk and Moose Run snowmobile trails for summer ATV use. But the DNR and county will close cross-country ATV travel on some 25,000 acres in the Finland State Forest and county forest. In terms of acreage, the 25,000 ãlimitedä acres constitutes a small portion of the 180,000 acre state forest. Garber said that hopefully the DNR in time would establish two or three additional ATV prototype areas. One reason the Legislature has balked at closing state forest trails to ATV use ö and reasonably so, said Garber ö is because alternative areas for ATV use has not been developed, he said. Besides establishing the prototype in Finland State Forest, the DNR is proceeding with an environmental assessment worksheet on the Spider Lake Recreation Area and may reclassify parts of the nearby Foothills State Forest to a ãlimitedä state forest ö banning cross-country ATV use. Foothills State Forest is located in Cass County in northcentral Minnesota. The state forest has about 26 miles of trails open to ATV. Garber said DNR trail planning has been greatly hampered by lawsuits. The commissioner also said in its trail testing, the DNR started out too big ö beyond itâs resources. Now they want to focus on smaller areas, he said. According to a DNR official, about 15,000 additional ATV units sold each year in Minnesota.
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