Chequamegon-Nicolet N. F. Forest Plan Revision 
Talking Points

*   It is important that ATV routes be included in road density analysis.  ATV routes essentially come with the same characteristics and impacts of any other route or road used by motor vehicles

*   The Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest must inventory and close all unauthorized, user-created ATV routes on the forest.  Only after a thorough environmental review should any user-created routes be considered for continued motorized use.  In addition, it is necessary to inventory these user-created, cross-country routes to make monitoring and enforcement of ATV rules possible.  Without a thorough knowledge of where these user-created routes are, it will be difficult to enforce the new provision which prohibits cross-country or off-road travel by motorized vehicles including ATVs.

*  MRR believes that the current number of trails already existing on the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest is more than adequate to satisfy current demand for ATV use on the forest.  We therefore fully support Alternative 4 which proposes no new trail miles on either the Chequamegon or Nicolet National Forests.

*  The Forest Service must recognize and address the effect of ATV use on wildlife habitat, particularly the impacts from ATV routes making safe and secure areas for species much smaller, increasing the ease for poachers to access game species, and the fragmentation of habitats from ATV designated and user created informal routes.  Nowhere in the forest plan is the significant negative impact of ATV use on wildlife addressed.

*   When addressing the regions social and economic impacts, the Forest Service fails to look at the potential negative impact of ATV use on the regions social and economic sustainability in the spring, summer and fall seasons.  The increase in noise and pollution from these machines may likely drive away traditional visitors to this region who seek quiet places to picnic, fish and hike free from the noise and fumes of these machines.  People traditionally come to Northern Wisconsin in the spring, summer and fall to smell the fresh pine needles and hear the call of the Loon across a lake, not smell exhaust fumes and hear the noise of a revving engine.  For many, the traditional reason for getting away from the city to Northern Wisconsin will be lost in the cacophony of engines and exhaust, hurting local economies that relied on the fisherman, hiker and sightseer.