| ATVs Threaten North
Country and CAMBA Trails
By Ron Bergin It was only a matter of time before the Cable, Wis., area was "discovered" as a potential ATV destination area. In fact, the small amount of ATV use in the
immediate area is very surprising, given the very liberal policy in the Chequamegon National Forest and generous access in both Bayfield and Sawyer county forests. What had been lacking, however, was an organized effort to legally gain access to more trails and develop connecting routes between the many small communities of the region.
This began to change about a year and a half ago when an ATV club was formed in the Seeley area for just this purpose. The club has been plugging away
diligently and has made some inroads, including successfully lobbying several towns to open some of their roads to ATV use. Part of their plan was to be able to expand beyond the existing designated trails and routes and connect with towns to the north, including Clam Lake, Namakagon and Cable, in part to be able to duplicate the long distance snowmobile cruising experience.
The biggest problem facing ATV proponents, and the development of an ATV trail network, is the lack of suitable
corridors for such travel. It is impossible to simply superimpose an ATV trail system on the existing snowmobile trail system, since snowmobile trails traverse numerous wetland areas – which are off-limits to ATVs – and use abandoned railroad grades, much of which is in private ownership, and use for snowmobiling is granted by easements. There has been some resistance to ATV use of the railroad grades in some areas, and it is unlikely that there will be easements granted for this purpose.
That leaves the town roads as the only possible connecting routes.
Naturally, area businesses are looking at this with dollar signs in their eyes. However, local resistance has been rapidly growing, and most town boards are taking a slow and conservative approach. With many jurisdictions and widely varying attitudes and policies, it will take a considerable effort on the part of the local clubs to cobble together a linear system of trails.
One of the largest complicating factors
is the Chequamegon National Forest policy on ATV use. Except for designated nonmotorized (i.e. Rock Lake) and wilderness areas and wetland areas, ATV use is permitted on any CNF woods road or trail, including cross-country travel. One possible reason that there has not been more use on the CNF in this part of the country is that they still can't get to the trails: Most of the major gravel roads, like Rock Lake Rd. (FR 207) or Lost Land Lake Rd. (FR 203) are town roads and can only be run by ATVs if they are street legal like a car or motorcycle. This is why the clubs are petitioning the towns open up these roads to ATV use.
Further complicating the national forest portion of the equation is the fact that the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest is in the midst of revising its 10-year management plan. A variety of management alternatives have been proposed pertaining to ATV use and further designating ATV trails in the national forest.
Note: The Chequamegon and Nicolet national forests were combined as one management unit a couple of years ago. However, there remain very conflicting ATV policies
from when they were independent: Chequamegon – open unless posted closed, cross country permitted; Nicolet – closed unless posted open, no cross country. Both the Bayfield and Sawyer county forests have similar access policies which state that unless an area is closed to motorized use (i.e. the Birkie Trail) or physically closed with gates or berms, ATVs can use most old logging roads and trails, but no cross-country use. The problem again is that they cannot get to many of these trails
except via town roads.
One of the major concerns is that if town roads are opened to ATV use, nearly all of the designated off-road bike trails, ski trails, snowshoe trails and other as yet relatively unscarred woods roads and trails will be available to ATV use. The ATV argument is that once they get a corridor they won't need these trails and would work to help sign and keep ATVs off these trails.
It all started to hit the fan in early April when the ATV clubs started pushing
the towns to open their roads. Most towns in southern Bayfield County dealt with this issue at their annual town meetings in mid-April. At the present time, there are only about five towns in the immediate area without extensive ATV routes through their communities: Cable, Drummond, Grand View, Namakagon and Spider Lake, although Grand View does have a couple of roads open to the east of town. Most towns (Drummond, Grand View and Namakagon) are in the midst of sending out or processing a
land-use survey that theoretically will help direct decisions about this question.
Cable's survey has been completed, and the results were to be discussed at a town meeting on July 6. A preview of the results reveals that the response to the question about opening town roads to ATV use was overwhelmingly negative at 67 percent. Yet the town board is continuing to study and consider designating some routes through the town. The town of Spider Lake had actually written and almost
approved an ordinance allowing ATV use of their roads. After some citizen input, the town decided to put this on hold and wait until fall while the issue is studied further.
Nearby, the town of Lenroot (north of Hayward including Seeley) has voted to open its town roads, mostly unpaved, to ATV use, although they are not signed as such and technically are not yet legal to use. ATV use in this area is nothing new. In fact, there has been a designated ATV trail in the area for over 15
years in the Sawyer County Forest.
The city of Hayward has applied to the state for a grant for materials to sign ATV routes in the city. ATVs are not permitted at this time to ride within the city limits, except on approved snowmobile routes between November and March. Hayward's mayor is all for ATV tourism and there is no opposition from the City council's police committee to allowing ATVs in the city. One proposed trail from the north looks doubtful, though, as it will require a
couple of key easements, which will likely not be forthcoming.
If you visit the Cable-Hayward area and would like to see it remain relatively free of ATV influence, you should contact the various town boards and chambers of commerce and voice your opinion. For a list of local government contacts, visit www.cable4fun.com/camba/news.html or call 800/234-6635.
Implications For the CAMBA Trails At this point, no one is suggesting turning any of the Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association trails into ATV trails. This may, however, be the net
result in some cases due to the local policies and jurisdictions should ATV routes be opened throughout the region. The CAMBA Cable Cluster is mostly on Bayfield County Forest with some private land. Randysek Road has been proposed as a connecting ATV route from the south. It passes the CAMBA Sleigh Trail, Short & Fat Trail and numerous cross country ski and hiking trails along the way. This would be the major access route to and into – yes, into – the village of Cable.
Delta Cluster CAMBA trails include town roads and trails in the Chequamegon National Forest. Most town roads are already posted and open to ATVs, including many roads used by CAMBA. By virtue of the cross country use policy on the Chequamegon National Forest, numerous user-created trails have already been developed throughout the area.
ATV use is obvious on the CAMBA West Fork single-track trail, and there has been considerable degradation.
ATVs are quite possibly the largest
single-user group on the nearby North Country Trail, a national scenic (nonmotorized) trail.
The Drummond Cluster includes some town roads north of Drummond and the Drummond Ski Trails in the Chequamegon National Forest. The town roads will be subject to the determination of the town board. Should they be opened to ATVs, it would force a mixed-use situation. The Drummond Ski Trails are not an issue as they are closed to motorized use.
Most of the trails in the Hayward and Seeley
clusters are in the Sawyer County Forest. The Bar Stool Trail is, in fact, superimposed on a pre-existing ATV trail and is the only such mixed use off-road trail in the CAMBA system.
Many of the other CAMBA trails in the Seeley and Hayward clusters do see ATV use. One of the more popular CAMBA clusters, Namakagon, is in the Chequamegon National Forest. Only the Rock Lake semiprimitive nonmotorized area is closed. Otherwise, trails are theoretically open and the gravel roads that
dissect the area are subject to future designation by the towns as ATV routes (town of Namakagon and town of Spider Lake).
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