For Immediate Release
Contact; Les Ollila, Tom Peterson
DNR holds open house to provide an update on access planning for a
portion of the Finland State Forest and to report OD progress in the
development of the Moosewalk/Mooserun ATV Trail.The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will hold an open house
on Wednesday, May 14, 2003, from 4:OO p.m. to 7:00p.m, at the DNR Area Office in Two Harbors. The purpose of the open house is to update the public on access planning for a portion of the Finland State Forest and to report on progress in the development of the proposed Moosewalk/Mooserun (MWMR) AU Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Trail. The Two Harbors Area Office is located at 1568 Highway 2 (1.3 miles north of the junction of U .S. Highway 61 and Lake County Highway 2). DNR staff invites the public to stop by the open house at any time to discuss these issues.The focus of the open house will be forest access planning that shows the roads and trails which will be open or closed to Recreational Motor Vehicle (RMV) use in the 25,000 acre area that surrounds the MWMR Trail. Of the 95 miles of roads and trails in the area 53 miles will remain open and 42 miles will be closed to motorized use. Maps and rationale for the road and trail decisions will be available at the Two Harbors open
house.Information will also be available on continuing efforts to develop the MWMR. ATV Trail. The Trail is located in the Finland State Forest, just north of Silver Bay Minnesota. The MWMR Trail projects converts and upgrades an existing snowmobile trail so that it is capable of handling summer ATV use. Development of the trail system is part of a larger effort by the DNR to provide for managed Recreational Motor Vehicle (RMV) use on managed trails. The Trail project is a cooperative effort between the DNR Lake County and the Silver Riders ATV Club.
In addition to trail development the DNR continues to explore management options that will most appropriately control RMV use for the area that surrounds the trail. In the spring of 2002 the DNR noticed a "Proposed Reclassification of a Portion of the Finland State Forest Recreational Motor Vehicle (RMV) Use." The reclassification proposal for 25,000 acres that surround the MWMR Trail was to change classifications from "managed" to "limited". The limited classification generally provides more control of RMV use that does the managed classification. The difference between the two classifications: under the managcd classification forest trails are open unless posted
closed and Wider the limited classification forest trails are closed unless posted open public meeting was held in June 2002 on this proposal. As a result of the meeting and ongoing work on statewide RMV policy it has been decided that the reclassification decision will be postponed until the MWMR Trail is designated and there is more experience with RMV use in the area.Numerous public meetings have bcen held concerning RMV use in the Silver Bay area and concerning the MWMR Trail in particular. The DNR intends to continue to use a public process as it works to develop the ATV Trail.
Upon request this information is available in alternate formats.