The Minnesota DNR won't act now to allow all-terrain vehicles on part of the North Shore State Trail.
Duluth News Tribune
By John Myers
The North Shore State Snowmobile Trail won't become a summer ATV trail, at least for now, under a decision by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Gene Merriam.
The agency had studied converting part of the trail for summer all-terrain vehicle use but decided against it because of potential environmental impacts.
"Based on a recent field visit, it is apparent that we could not allow ATV use on the entire trail as it is now," Merriam wrote in a news release. "However, we believe that with certain reroutes and physical improvements, the trail could sustain ATV use."
At issue is about 48 miles of the trail from outside northeastern Duluth to the Silver Bay area. In February, pushed by counties and local ATV clubs, the DNR announced it was considering whether to convert part of the 146-mile trail for ATV use.
The trail currently is open to snowmobiling during winter and a mix of nonmotorized activities -- hiking, biking and horseback riding -- during the remainder of the year, although it is only lightly used in summer months. Only about six miles of the trail currently are open to ATVs.
The North Shore State Trail is separate from the Superior Hiking Trail, although they run parallel at times and cross in some areas.
Opening the North Shore Trail to ATVs has been another chapter in the ongoing dispute regarding where four-wheelers and other off-road vehicles should be allowed to travel on public lands in the Northland, with the debate spilling over in recent months into county and township governments as local officials were asked to take stands for or against the change.
Some local environmental groups opposed the plan because of potential problems with erosion and runoff into trout streams where the trail crosses waters and wetlands. Opponents also said it would cause excessive noise and traffic.
John Knutson of rural Duluth, a board member of the North Shore ATV Club, which requested the DNR act on the trail, said potential impacts have been "overblown."
Merriam's decision "is a huge disappointment. It's disheartening that the anti-access people have so much access to" the DNR commissioner, Knutson said.
He added that the trail is perfectly suited for ATV use and would suffer no impact from ATV use with a few modifications of the trail.
The decision to keep ATVs off the trail was praised by Clyde Hanson of Lutsen, founder of the Sustainable Recreation Coalition and a Sierra Club activist. Hanson said the potential impact on extremely sensitive North Shore streams and ecosystems was too great to allow large numbers of ATVs in the area.
"They (DNR) are saying that the trail... is not suitable for ATVs without essentially turning it into a road," Hanson said. "They are admitting it's not as simple as just throwing up some signs and calling it an ATV trail. They have a lot of other priorities dealing with state forests and looking at where ATVs should be allowed."
The North Shore ATV Club first proposed the change in September to create a contiguous trail up the North Shore. The St. Louis County and Lake County boards have supported converting the trail for ATVs.
Supporters had hoped the trail would become the main route in a network of ATV trails in Northeastern Minnesota. Supporters argue that a trail network would focus riders in designated areas, making for easier law enforcement and minimizing conflicts with others.
"This was a major route for us to get access to a lot of communities," Knutson said. "I guess the DNR isn't as concerned about people having to ride off-trail as they said they were. This would have got people onto the trails."
Merriam said any future effort to allow ATVs on the trail would need review of environmental impacts, user conflicts and concerns of nearby landowners. He said the DNR also would need to consider the cost of building and maintaining the trail and the cost of law enforcement on the trail.
Merriam noted that the state would need to get permission from private landowners and the U.S. Forest Service, which owns extensive land along the trail route.
"And if we were to consider a change in the future, that decision would be made only after a very public process," Merriam said in his prepared statement, adding that the DNR will focus its ATV trail efforts on determining appropriate routes in state forests, which is a mandate from the state Legislature.
