DNR seeks comment on ATV proposal
ROOSEVELT - The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) invites public review and comment on a proposal to authorize state grant-in-aid funding for an approximately 81-mile all-terrain vehicle (ATV) trail in the Beltrami Island State Forest in Lake of the Woods and Roseau counties.
The proposed trail is currently open to ATV use. The trail will consist of 29 miles on state forest minimum maintenance road, 46 miles on state forest system road, one mile on township road, and five miles on Lake of the Woods county road. The trail will connect to the towns of Roosevelt and Williams, and to the Bemis Hill and Con-Con grant-in-aid trails.
Roseau County will sponsor the proposal, provide trail monitoring, development and maintenance in cooperation with the Roseau/Lake of the Woods Sportsmen's Club. The trail will be routed primarily through the Beltrami Island State Forest in Oaks and Clear River townships in Roseau County, and Myhre Township in Lake of the Woods County.
Bringing the existing trail into the grant-in-aid system would provide additional resources and funding for trail signing, maintenance, monitoring and repair. The trail will be designated for class 1 and class 2 ATV use, but will be open to highway-licensed vehicles and nonmotorized uses such as hiking and horseback riding where located on state forest roads. Twenty-seven miles of the trail are currently designated for dual off-highway motorcycle and ATV use. Both uses will continue on this portion of the trail.
Copies of the proposal and a project map are available for review online. The deadline for comments is 4:30 p.m. Aug. 15.
Comments may also be sent by email to allen.lego@state.mn.us or by fax to 218-681-0948.
