Input sought from hunters, ATV users, hikers, skiers
By MEG JONES
mjones@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Sept. 9, 2007
For hunters or anglers who have traveled on Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest roads and trails to get to their favorite hunting or fishing spots, now is the time to speak up and get on the map.
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That goes for all-terrain vehicle enthusiasts and off-road vehicle drivers, too.
Worried about unmanaged recreation in the nation's forests, the U.S. Forest Service decreed several years ago that maps be drawn of every forest, with each road and trail clearly marked. If a trail or road isn't on the map, vehicles won't be allowed and law enforcement officers may hand out tickets.
Many miles of trails and so-called secondary roads won't make the cut.
"You have to realize there are a lot of folks interested in maintaining their access to the forest and they don't want that diminished, while there are folks concerned that there's too much access to the forest," said Rich Ahlfs, a Chequamegon-Nicolet supervisory civil engineering technician in Laona.
Chequamegon-Nicolet officials are working on the map that is to govern where ATV and off-road vehicle operators may go. But it isn't scheduled to come out until 2009.
Drawing a map of the Chequamegon-Nicolet, and of every other national forest, is a complex process. It includes analysis of both the environment and roads. The roads are ranked based on factors such as risk to animals and plants, and patterns of human use. In the 1.5 million-acre Chequamegon-Nicolet, there are 9,000 miles of roads.
"If you have a gravel road that's the main route for a school bus, of course you're going to leave that open, because it's a main road," said Cathy Fox, Chequamegon-Nicolet public affairs officer. "But you may have a small road that's hardly used that ends in the middle of the forest. They might say, 'Well, we should close that road.' "
There are no developed ATV trails in the Nicolet portion of Wisconsin's only national forest - though there are plans for construction on the drawing board. Chequamegon has 284 miles of developed ATV trails.
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