Sawyer County Forest Access Plan
Public Hearings to be Held Nov. 18 & 20
As you might be aware, the Sawyer County Forestry Committee has been in the process of revising its Forest Access Plan. This plan comprises Chapter 700 of the Sawyer County Forest Comprehensive Land Uses Plan adopted a couple of years ago. This is the last remaining part of this plan to be completed.
The revision process included a citizen stakeholder committee with representatives of the various user and interest groups including biking, skiing, ATV, snowmobile, bear hunting, non-motorized hunting, logging and portions of the county that have large blocks of forest like Winter. The draft Access Plan has been submitted to the Forestry Committee for their review. Public hearings will be held on November 18 in Winter and November 20 in Hayward for public input.
By all accounts skiing, biking and silent sports interests fared very well in the draft version of the plan. We encourage you to attend one of the hearings and voice support for the plan, and, of course, voice your own views. It is important that there be a strong showing of silent sport enthusiasts to support the plan as it now stands.
It has been suggested that this has been a motorized vs non-motorized conflict. This is not the case. The committee was well balanced, worked well together with give and take by all participants. Most committee representatives were able to represent their constituencies capably. County Forest Administrator Greg Peterson let the committee do their work and managed the proceedings with an open mind an even hand.
Snowmobilers did not loose anything. ATVers did not loose any of their existing state or county designated trails. The plan even has provisions for creating new trails in the future.
Many old grown-in, dead-end or roads that did not connect to anything or roads that were environmentally sensitive and/or unsustainable were closed to ATVs. Some remain open to trucks. This has caused some heartburn among the ATV community and they are expected to be out in force at the hearings. But it important to understand that the loss of these roads does not affect the area trail system, though there will most certainly an attempt to say that it will.
The draft plan and maps showing the road and trail designations can be downloaded from the county website.
http://www.sawyercountygov.org/CountyDepartments/Foresty/tabid/102/Default.aspx
If you have any questions, or would like to discuss any of the specifics of the plan or the process, please feel free to contact: Ron Bergin, John Saunders or Ned Zuelsdorf.
Public Hearings: November 18, Winter School, 6:30-9:00 and November 20, Hayward High School, 6:30-9:00
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