St. Louis County - St. Louis County's Board of Commissioners will vote April 8 on whether to grant easement across county land for an expanded gas-tax funded ATV/snowmobile route near Biwabik to gas-tax funded Rangers ATV/snowmobile ATV club.
Reasons to oppose expansion of gas-tax funded motorized recreation in St Louis Co:
1. Diversion of gas-tax funds to motorized recreation is unconstitutional. It is just plain wrong when our state's roads are bridges are crumbling we are all paying at the pump and yet are $1 billion in debt.
2. St. Louis County, as a fiscal agent to gas-tax funded clubs and motorized recreation, has a very poor record in managing gas-tax funded routes for snowmobiles and ATVs. A 2006 citizen audit performed by MRR, which the county has attempted to ignore, finds that each gas-tax funded route and club sponsored by the county is in violation of basic grant-in-aid requirements. St. Louis County has allowed gas-tax funded snowmobile clubs to trespass, damage private and public property, wetlands and forests without oversight or accountability.
3. Photos and video below show St. Louis County and DNR's gas-tax funded plan to open 800 miles of ATV, dirt-bike motorcycle and four-wheel drive truck routes in the Cloquet Valley State Forest is already having a devastating effect.
Learn more about MRR's 2007 Off-Road Vehicle Effects and Cost of Restoration Study and
DNR Proposed Taft ATV/Snowmobile Trail; Cloquet Valley State Forest, St. Louis County, Minnesota.
4. Decisions regarding expanded gas-tax funded ATV/snowmobile use should not be made without implementing Five Standards for Protecting Minnesota from the Unwanted Effects of Motorized Recreation.
1. Completion of public and environmental review, i.e, Environmental Assessment Worksheets, to select ATV/snowmobile routes
2. Policy requiring machines to stay on selected routes
3. Adequate enforcement to keep riders on selected routes
4. Damage inventory, funds and plan to restore damaged areas
5. Oversight and accountability to accomplish above objectives
CONTACT ST. LOUIS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND YOUR LEGISLATORS NOW!
TELL THEM YOU OPPOSE EXPANDED USE OF GAS-TAX REVENUE FOR MOTORIZED RECREATION
SHARE THE ABOVE REASONS.
Contact Info for St. Louis County Commissioners
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MRR's Roads Not Ruts Campaign
