Sounding (the silent sports) Alarm
Causes for concern & action
HEARINGS SET FOR STATE PARKS HUNTING PLAN The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has scheduled public hearings this month to get input on a proposal to expand hunting in five state parks.
Traditional state park users have reason to object to expanded small game and turkey hunting in state parks. Small game hunting season runs from September 14 through January 31 during prime fall biking and hiking seasons and into the winter ski season.
To offer hunting in state parks isn't practical and could be a deadly mistake for park users who are not aware of these new hunting rules.
A 2002 pilot program in several parks resulted in sparsely attended hunts. But several instances of conflict with traditional park users resulted. Nevertheless, the DNR wants to make hunting permanent at several of these state parks. Wisconsin is one of only seven states that allow hunting in their state park systems.
The ongoing battle to expand
hunting in recreational areas started back in 1997 when the Wisconsin Legislature authorized small game hunting in state parks and directed the DNR to develop rules to implement the authorization. In 2001, legislation passed to open certain state parks to all forms of hunting recreation. Due to internal DNR concern, however, it didn't get off the ground until a few legislators pushed the issue.
The proposed rule change would make hunting seasons permanent for small game and migratory
birds at Mill Bluff and Mirror Lake, and turkey at Willow River, Interstate and Newport state parks.
Expanded hunting in state parks just doesn't make any sense when you look at the statistics:
Park and trail use continues to grow at record numbers while hunting growth is flat.
More than 50 percent of Wisconsin residents use state parks and trails while less than 25 percent consider themselves hunters.
Park and trails acreage is less than one-half of 1 percent of all state lands.
There are approximately 1.5 million acres of DNR land available for hunting. This does not include 4 million acres of national and county forest lands. Of these 5.5 million acres, it is estimated the 5 million acres are open to hunting. There are fewer than 145,000 acres of state park and recreation area land. As more state parks become hunting areas, there is less acreage available for traditional recreation.
The small game season is particularly controversial due to its length.
Concerned citizens can attend any of the hearings or send written comments to wmrules@dnr.state.wi.us or to Kurt Thiede, Bureau of Wildlife Management, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707. The deadline for public comment is December 9. Comments submitted electronically or by U.S. mail will have the same weight and effect as oral statements presented at the public hearings.
More information can be found at https://apps4.dhfs.state.wi.us/admrules/public/Rmo?nRmoId=648.
The schedule of public hearings is as follows:
Monday, Dec. 5: Sturgeon Bay, Door County Courthouse, 421 Nebraska St.
Tuesday, Dec. 6: Hudson, St. Croix County Courthouse, 1101 Carmichael Rd.
Wednesday, Dec. 7: Wisconsin Dells, Kilbourn Public Library, 620 Elm St.
Thursday, Dec. 8: Dodgeville, DNR Service Center, 1500 N. Johns St.
Mike McFadzen ATV CLUB SEEKS USE OF PINE LINE TRAIL A group of recreational ATV users in the Ogema area of north-central Wisconsin has asked the Pine Line Commission for year-round access to the Pine Line Rail Trail.
Most of the discussion centered on the trail in Price County, but there was support for the idea from people in the Westboro and Chelsea areas of Taylor County, too.
The commission took no action on
the request but asked members of the Price County ATV group to come back with formal information such as maps of possible connecting trails and roads. The Pine Line Commission oversees the trail and its usage. It includes members from Taylor and Price counties.
The Pine Line Trail is a 26.2 mile converted railroad bed that runs from Allman Street in the city of Medford to the north and west before ending at Morner Road south of Prentice. It passes through Whittlesey, Chelsea, Westboro and
Ogema.
The trail came into being in 1990. It is open, as trail conditions permit, for use by snowmobiles and ATVs from December 1 to March 31.
The trail is designated for nonmotorized use by horses, bikes and pedestrians the rest of the year. It is the only designated bike trail in Taylor County.
The trail meets the Medford Riverwalk system at Allman Street. The Pine Line also crosses the foot-travel-only Ice Age National Scenic Trail north of Chelsea. The trail is also the site
of the annual Pine Line Marathon, held in April.
ATV supporters said the change would bring more tourism spending to the area. They said several of the Price County townships and villages allow ATV use on their roads to connect to trails. The Pine Line Trail has no outlet to another ATV trail at this time.
The usage of the trail is heavier on the southern end, where most of the nearby population lives. The sentiment from residents in that area seemed to favor keeping the current trail
usage rules.
With or without permission, some ATV'ers are currently using the railroad bed. This writer recently went for a run on the trail near Ogema and encountered ATV'ers as well as observed tread marks left by previous ATV riders.
Public comments on the requested rule change may be sent to Brad Ruesch, Pine Line Commission, 224 S. Second St., Medford, WI 54451.
Mark Berglund FOREST SERVICE PLAN FOR OHV TRAILS CRITICIZED A U.S. Forest Service plan to restrict off-road vehicles (OHV) has drawn criticism from environmental groups. The new regulation, announced November 2, could make legal hundreds of illegal trails on federal lands made by ATV, dirt bikes and four-wheel drive truck drivers.
The new policy would require all 155 national forests and 20 grasslands some 193 million acres to designate roads and trails that are open to motor vehicle traffic. Forest supervisors and district
managers will be required to involve the public in the trail designation process. The Forest Service expects the process to take four years.
Critics say the plan will legitimize heavily traveled "renegade routes." Jim Furnish, a former deputy Forest Service chief who has been critical of the agency under the Bush administration, told The Associated Press, "It's almost an oxymoron that there is a good illegal route."
Over the past 30 years, the number of OHV users
increased sevenfold to 36 million. "That's a good thing," an explanation of the new rule by the Forest Service states.
"However, the increase in OHV use also affects soil, water, wildlife habitat and other recreational visitors. Today, unmanaged recreation, including impacts from OHVs, represents one of the four key threats facing the nation's forests and grasslands," the document concludes.
More than 200,000 miles of forest roads and 36,000 miles of trails are
currently open to off-highway vehicles, according to the Forest Service. Joel Patenaude | 
