Contacts: Ron Tuverson, 715-376-2331

Jeff Brown, Executive Director, Minnesotans for Responsible Recreation, 218-740-3175

Solon Springs, Wisconsin. They feel betrayed, and they’re mad as hell. That’s what local residents in northwestern Wisconsin are saying about the ATV/OHV scramble area that’s planned for their neighborhood. They’re not happy that it would be built in what’s now a bird sanctuary, but they’re even less happy that it would be built right in their back yards (in some cases quite literally), and totally without their consent.

At a June 2 meeting of the County Board’s Forest, Parks, and Recreation Committee, a large group of local citizens showed up to voice their strong opposition to the plan. Most had just recently learned about it; they voiced frustration over how little publicity the initiative has received so far. No one in the immediate area had been officially notified, and until recently no stories about the initiative have appeared in the media.

What they’ve finally been learning is that a group of ATV/OHV enthusiasts, primarily from the Duluth-Superior area, has asked to build an ATV/OHV scramble area in what’s now a bird sanctuary located in northwestern Wisconsin’s Douglas County. The 4000 acre sanctuary, officially known as the Douglas County Wildlife Management Area (DCWMA), has been managed as a wildlife refuge for over 78 years. One portion of the refuge is designated as the Wisconsin Sharptail Grouse Barrens. The refuge is also home to wolves, bald eagles, and a wide variety of other wildlife.

The DCWMA includes 2,997 acres that the state leases from Douglas County; that lease expires in August. Rather than renewing it, some groups have asked that a significant portion of the bird sanctuary—plus an adjacent county-owned parcel—be converted to a scramble area for high-performance ATVs, dirt bikes, four-wheel drive trucks, and snowmobiles. At its April 28 meeting, the Douglas County Forest, Parks, and Recreation Committee voted unanimously to actively pursue an ATV scramble area somewhere in Douglas County.

At the June 2 meeting, however, Committee Chair Bob Browne emphasized that the County Board of Supervisors remains site-neutral. "Actually, we agree that this might not be the best location. But we need people to offer us some better alternatives."

Local residents, many of whom live within a mile of the proposed site, have only recently learned about the plan. Long-time residents Bob and Diane Meltz moved here from Superior for the peace and quiet; they’re not ready to see that peace and quiet destroyed. "What’s more," said Diane, "having something like that here in the bird sanctuary would be a disaster waiting to happen. As dry as that grass gets, with those machines, and with their drivers and riders smoking out there, fires are inevitable. They’re putting my house at risk, and I don’t like it."

"And as far as not telling us about it," says Meltz, "I think that’s pretty underhanded. It’s mostly Minnesota people who want it, and they don’t have to live here. The first I knew about it was when I saw a petition at a gas station in Superior. Nearly all the names on the petition were from Duluth. The guy asked me to sign, and told me the site was out in the middle of nowhere where no one lived. I looked at his map, and it turned out to be half a mile from my house. I set him straight pretty fast."

Mora McCusker has lived in the neighborhood all her life; she’s also taken the time to learn about what makes it such a special place. "Of course I don’t want to live next door to something like that," says McCusker. "Who would? But I’d also hate to see us destroy one of our last remaining pieces of natural grassland savanna. Here in Wisconsin, this unique ecosystem and the wildlife it supports once covered over four million acres. According to some estimates, we’re now down to about ten thousand acres. Of that, four thousand is right here in the Bird Sanctuary."

Nearby resident Dave Sedin told us it was only by chance that he’d found out how far along the proposal was. "I own an ATV myself, and I love riding it. But the Bird Sanctuary is not the place for a scramble area. Well anyway, one night I stopped to eat at a place here in the area. The waitress knew me, and she quietly came over with a petition that she wanted me to see. She knew where I lived, and she thought I ought to know about what had been going on."

According to archived, publicly-available meeting minutes from the County Board of Supervisors and some of its various committees, the initiative has been quietly underway for some time. At a meeting on January 14 of 2002, then-board member Lee Francisco "suggested that someone contact a few snowmobile/ATV manufacturers (Polaris, Arctic Cat, etc.) to ask if they are interested in sponsoring promotion of classes or building an RV riding park area; [then-board member Milo] Polla will follow up on these inquiries." At the time, both board members were members of a local ATV/snowmobile club.

In a Recreational Trail Committee meeting on March 10, 2003, Dave Wickland of the Jackpine Riders presented a proposal and petition for the Bird Sanctuary site. He claimed that it "met the Recreational Trails Committee Meeting criteria for the ATV park—secluded, with boundaries, two miles from any residence/businesses." A quick trip to the site, however, showed that these claims weren’t entirely accurate. The proposed "secluded" site is immediately adjacent to State Highway 53. There are no boundaries or barriers to prevent riders and drivers from heading out into what would remain of the bird sanctuary (according to locals, damage from illegal ATV incursions is already a problem in the sanctuary), and it turns out that dozens of homes and businesses are located within two miles.

In that same meeting, official minutes show that an unnamed board member stated "Bob Chance from Iron County has suggested that the county refer to the park as a ‘recreation area,’ which is more palatable to the general population. He offered to assist with the efforts in this regard for Douglas County’s project."

Jeff Brown, Executive Director of Duluth-based Minnesotans for Responsible Recreation (MRR), says he "witnessed Minnesota’s first "off-highway vehicle park/scramble area" be stealthily foisted on an unsuspecting citizenry in Gilbert, Minnesota.

Brown described one public meeting in Gilbert—after it already was too late. "I’ll never forget one elderly gentleman who stood up to speak at a so-called ‘hearing’," says Brown. "The man lived on a property adjacent to the scramble area. With tears in his eyes, and a shaking voice he described how he had put his life savings in his home. He knew he could no longer go out in his yard or even inside his house to escape the noise. He felt as if the home and property he’d worked so hard to improve over the years had been taken away. Pleading with unresponsive public officials from the DNR and legislature, he kept asking ‘how could you do this to me?’ Brown says, this man was not alone. Despite general public opposition in Gilbert, distant and invisible powers forced this ATV, dirt-bike motorcycle, and four-wheel drive truck "scramble area" on this unsuspecting community."

In Douglas County, however, the question of whether or not to develop the proposed scramble area site remains open. Said Director of Forestry and Natural Resources Richard Moore, "It’s only an accident of timing that these two unrelated ideas—the lease expiration and the scramble area—became linked. People saw it as an opportunity. Actually, we’d like to find a site that’s better for the resource and better for a scramble area. We’d like to hear from people."

Fred Strand, DNR Wildlife Biologist, stated that when the current fifty-year lease expires in August, the state would like to negotiate a new lease for the entire parcel; the DNR has already begun discussions with the County. "We’ve also, however, offered the County to help find the best site an ATV scramble area," explained Strand. "Our Parks and Recreation people are willing to help the county determine what attributes the area should have, and then assist with a county-wide assessment to find the absolute best possible location."

Readers who’d like to offer input on a scramble area’s future location can contact the Douglas County Forestry Department at 715-378-2219. Those who’d like to learn more about MRR (and its newly-formed WRR counterpart) can call 218-740-3179. Or, visit their website at mnresponsiblerec.org.

To learn more about the Douglas County Wildlife Management Area, readers can contact the Douglas County Forestry Department at 715-378-2219. Or, they can contact the Wisconsin DNR’s office in Brule at 715-372-4866.

To view photos of the damage these machines are doing to our landscape and learn more about Minnesotans for Responsible Recreation go to www.MnResponsibleRec.org