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Sounding (the silent sports) Alarm [9.07] GANDY DANCER TRAIL STILL TARGET OF ATV'ERS For years, former Wisconsin Republican state legislator Mark Pettis tried but failed to "buy back" at least 20 miles of the nonmotorized Gandy Dancer State Trail in order to turn it into an ATV trail. While Pettis lost re-election last fall, his successor, Democrat Ann Hraychuck, now appears to be taking up his cause. Using a letter recently written by Rep. Hraychuck, Siren resident and ATV enthusiast Larry Koch tried to persuade Burnett County officials to allow ATVs on the Gandy Dancer, according to the August 15 Inter-County Leader. Hraychuck's letter stated that it was up to the county to expand the trail's use to include ATVs. While that is true, the terms of the federal Transportation Enhancement (TE) grant used to build the trail does not permit motorized use except for wintertime snowmobiling. If the county were to open the trail to ATVs, they could lose federal grant money in the future. "It is a risk the county would prefer not to take," the newspaper reported. A couple years ago at the urging of Pettis, Burnett County applied for funds to buy back the 20 miles of the Gandy Dancer that intersects the county. If the federal government were reimbursed even a fraction of the original TE grant, Pettis believed the county could then lift the restrictions against ATVs. But a Federal Highway Administration attorney informed the county that such a scheme was not permissable. The Gandy Dancer rail-trail remains, from April through November, open to biking and hiking only for the 47-mile stretch between St. Croix Falls and Danbury. From Danbury north to Superior, the Gandy Dancer is paved for 51 miles and open to year-round ATV use. RURAL TOWNSHIP BOARD SAYS NO TO ATV PARK On July 11, the Gratiot Township Board declined to rezone 100 acres of agricultural land in rural south central Wisconsin to allow for the construction of an ATV and off-road motorcycle park. Out of 700-some township residents, 179 signed a petition in opposition to the rezoning. About 100 people attended the meeting, and most of then applauded when the board voted unanimously (3-0) against the application, according to the Republican Journal. Many local residents said the motorized park would produce excessive noise, safety issues and higher law enforcement costs akin to what the ATV-dominated Cheese County Trail already generates in the area. Land owner Don Redden said a nearby ATV park would disturb the horses he breeds and the "peace and quiet" he and his wife enjoy. The sale of the land to Extreme Racing Park – a $500,000 business venture involving three Darlington men – was contingent on the rezoning. One of the men told the newspaper that the search for another site will continue but probably outside Lafayette County. MTB trail not mentioned in post-Tornado report The U.S. Forest Service has completed an environmental and economic assessment of the salvage efforts needed in the Nicolet National Forest in northern Wisconsin due to a June 7 tornado. The report estimates the value of the downed timber to loggers and local government, but does not mention the soci-economic value of the 1.5 miles of mountain bike trail that was also destroyed. Charlie Jouhnson – who over the past five years has helped build much of the Nicolet Roche Trail that was hit – is asking fellow mountain bikers as well as hikers, cross-country skiers, snowshoers and hunters who have used the trail to contact the Forest Service. "Whether as an individual or representative of a group or club, contact the Forest Service and kindly ask about the timing of the salvage and the bike trail. Mention how far you travel to get there or if you've stayed away knowing the bike trail has been split by the tornado," Johnson wrote in an e-mail appeal. Johnson has offered to organize work days for rebuilding the singletrack but has been told to wait by Forest Service officials. "The Forest Service has always been great to work with and it would be great if they'd help us out again," Johnson wrote. He suggested people contact the agency by e-mailing Paul Sweeny at pfsweeney@fs.fed.us or faxing Jeanne Higgens at 715/762-5179. MIDWEST RAIL-TRAILS SPOTLIGHTED The fall issue of Rails to Trails, the magazine of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, features rail-trail projects big and small in the Midwest. Mentioned is a new sidewalk in Thomas Township, Michigan, giving children safe passage to the Saginaw Valley Rail-Trail. Featured as well are plans to convert a still active rail line into a 7.7-mile trail connector between St. Cloud, Minnesota, and 125 miles of existing blacktopped trails. Also listed are some of the 40 new National Recreation Trails (NRTs) recently designated by the Department of Interior. The new NRTs – which are existing trails linking people and resources – include four in Iowa (the 20-mile Chichaqua Valley Trail, the 33-mile Sauk Rail Trail, the 26-mile Three Rivers Trail and the 63-mile Wabash Trace Nature Trail) and North Dakota and Minnesota's shared 20-mile Grand Forks/East Grand Forks Greenway. MORE CHILDREN DIE RIDING ATVS THAN BICYCLES The death toll of children killed riding ATVs now exceeds the number of fatalities of kids riding bicycles, according to a new analysis released by Concerned Families for ATV Safety. Although many more kids ride bicycles than ATVs, the analysis conducted by Dr. Jim Helmkamp, director of the West Virginia University Injury Control Research Center, found that from 2000 to 2004, ATV-related accidents killed an average of 171 per 100,000 children 15 or younger each year, compared with 152 killed in bicycle-related accidents. While ATV deaths increased 24 percent over the five-year period, bicycle deaths dropped 18 percent, Helmkamp said. Concerned Families for ATV Safety wants a federal law that would prohibit children younger than 16 from riding ATVs – a recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics. OHV INDUSTRY TO 'PROVE' OHV RIDING IS EXERSIZE ATV'ers often claim their chosen form of recreation is "exercise" because hours of trail riding leaves them feeling stiff and sore. Health studies backing up this claim are lacking, however. "I haven't ever heard of research on off-road vehicles 'exercise' of any type," said Jason Kiely of Wildlands CPR, an organization critical of motorized recreation on public lands. "It is an interesting 'hole' in the literature that suggests there's nothing there." Leave it to the industry to fill that hole. In mid-July, it was announced that researchers at York University in Toronto, Canada, were "initiating a national in-depth study on the fitness and health benefits of recreational off-road vehicle riding." Who is funding the study? The Cana-dian Off-Highway Vehicle Distributors Council (COHV), the All-Terrain Quad Council of Canada and the Motorcyclist Confederation of Canada, that's who. And what will the study likely determine? In a press release, COHV President Bob Ramsay said his organization believes "the results of the study will be a great opportunity for OHV riders to prove that being out on the trails is not only fun but contributes to individual and family well-being and physical fitness." We're sure it will. And we'll believe the inevitable motor industry-funded study that "proves" bicyclists are noisier, more damaging and polluting than OHV riders, too.
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