Trail use by off-highway vehicles in Koochiching State Forest and Pine Island State Forest in Koochiching County is scheduled to be examined by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources starting in July, according to Bob Moore, northeast manager of the DNR’s Division of Trails and Waterways.
The purpose of the examination and trail redesignation is to limit all-terrain vehicle use, Koochiching County Land Commissioner Dennis Hummitzsch said.
The entire process is expected to take 15 months, according to the DNR.
When the DNR comes before the Koochiching County Board process, Commissioner Mike Hanson said he hopes the two organizations can work together. He noted that in the past, Koochiching County has experienced a good relationship with the DNR.
“I’m going into this with some positive thoughts,” Hanson said.
A priority of the DNR is to make the process a public one, Moore said. Organizations in the county have an interest in the state forests in addition to the DNR and are going to be involved in the process, he said.
Hummitzsch expects some county-administered land to be affected, as it is mixed in with the state forests, Hummitzsch said.
Koochiching County is different than the counties that have been going through the process because the land in Koochiching County is managed for timber and logging, in addition to OHVs, Hanson said.
Koochiching County falls under a law that differentiates between counties north of Highway 2, which runs between Grand Forks, N.D., and Duluth, Hanson said.
OHVs, such as ATVs, are allowed to operate on any trails and roads in state forests, unless it is closed for safety or environmental reasons, according to the law.
The Minnesota Legislature called for a state forest route inventory and a “forest-by-forest” review of state forests. By 2008 the DNR is to examine access and to make recommendations for designating or decommissioning existing routes for motorized vehicles in all state forests, according the DNR.
Forests in northern Minnesota are the last to be examined by the DNR in the state-wide initiative, Hummitzsch said.