What is your idea of the "great outdoors?" Hitting the trails, roaring on your ATV or a quiet walk through the woods?
There is a great debate that ranges the length of the state, on whether ATV use should be banned or restricted in our state forests.
There are more than 4.5 million acres of state forest land in Minnesota, and more than 270,000 registered ATV users.
Jim Breyen is a former regional wildlife supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. He is critical of the way the department has managed ATV trails.
On a recent tour of the Paul Bunyan State Forest, just south of Bemidji, he pointed out dozens of wetlands that have been damaged beyond repair by careless users who joyride through the fragile wetland, causing havoc to plants and animals alike.
"After several years this is what you end up with, muddy water and no vegetation and destroyed wetland," Breyen said. "Believe me it's frustrating to a lot of people in the department. The direction from the leadership is to get the trails on the ground, get them on the ground as fast as we can and worry about that other stuff later."
Breyen also claims DNR commissioner, Gene Merriam, does not like criticism within the agency, making it difficult to build a cohesive plan to harden existing trails from further damage.
"I would disagree that we're not open to criticism," Merriam said. "We strive to be open to all of our stakeholders. Then we balance out those competing or sometimes, or often times conflicting perspectives."
Breyen also charges Merriam with being too close to ATV manufacturers.
"What's wrong with that is it clouds the involvement of other users in the forest that are not interested in using ATVs," Breyen said.
To that criticism, Merriam said, "I don't believe our approach to regulate off-highway vehicles is too friendly to the industry. What we're trying to do is seek a balance. Interesting we get criticism from the other side that we're too restrictive."
The DNR plans to close trails in three state forests unless they're posted as open, except for some hunting and trapping. The current rule states that trails are open unless posted as closed.WCCO News
