Silent Sports Sounds Off

Eighty-three percent of fish and wildlife managers in 27 states have seen “resource damage to wildlife habitat” caused by off-road vehicles (ORVs) following closely behind by 72 percent citing “disruption of hunters during hunting season” as another impact from ORVs.

The survey – conducted by the St. Paul, Minnesota-based Izaak Walton League of America (IWLA) last July and August with the results released yesterday – involved contacting wildlife and fisheries managers in all 50 states. A total of 34 agencies, representing 27 different states, responded to the survey.

The survey clearly shows negative impacts on hunting and fishing from various types of ORVs. Furthermore, these agency managers strongly indicated that more enforcement of standards is needed to protect hunting and fishing from ORV impacts.

The survey is part of a broader IWLA report, “Collision Course? Off-Road Vehicle Impacts on Hunting and Fishing,” which was also released yesterday.

Read the IWLA’s press release and a short St. Paul Pioneer Press story about the survey here.

–  Joel Patenaude

Over 300 environmental educators are expected to attend the Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education “No Child Left Inside” conference Oct. 18-20 at the Country Springs Conference Center in Stevens Point.

The conference will provide participants with the methods and tools to engage youth in outdoor educational and recreational adventures.

Keynote speaker Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, will explain what is happening to a generation of children growing up with virtually no contact with the outdoors. Louv recently provided testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives on this “nature deficit.”

For more information, including registration information, visit the conference website here.

Photo taken Saturday, Sept. 22, by Jerry Kiesow. 

Despite the Fond du Lac County Board’s sound rejection last December of a request to open the 10-mile Eisenbahn State Trail to winter ATVing, a local ATV club is back seeking access.

Only this time they’ve upped the ante.

At a Sept. 5 meeting of the county parks and development committee, members of the Eden Area Trailrunners ATV club said they will seek permanent winter access to the hiking and biking trail. The club is no longer asking for access on a trial basis, even though that was the proposal last year the county board said “no” to with a 26-9 vote.

Nevertheless, the ATV club will be back before the committee on Oct. 3 at 6:15 p.m. at the Fond du Lac County Government Center to formally renew their request. The committee will either approve or reject the winter riding proposal. Last year, the committee unanimously approved the proposal before the full county board stopped it cold (or so they may have thought).

A strong silent sports contingent at the Oct. 3 meeting will be needed to explain to the committee that if ATV riding on the Eisenbahn on a trial basis isn’t acceptable, permanent and ongoing usage by ATV’ers ought not be supported.

A belated congratulations is due to to all 13 members of the Weisse family of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for completing the Fox Cities Marathon and thereby earning themselves a Guinness Book record.

Ages 33 to 54, they became the largest group of siblings to finish a marathon, beating a record of 12 set by another family at the 2005 Dublin Marathon.

A preview of the record-setting attempt was written by Tom Held at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The story was picked up by National Public Radio, too. Listen to the NPR report here.

A proposed extension of the North Country Scenic Trail – a nonmotorized hiking trail on forest land in Minnesota’s Hubbard, Clearwater and Becker counties – prompted the DNR to release an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) for public review.

The public review and comment period will end Wednesday, Sept. 26.

The project is sponsored by the North Country Trail Association, the organization responsible for the development and maintenance of the North Country Scenic Trail.

The 23.5 miles of proposed new trail will link up existing trail segments in the Chippewa National Forest, Paul Bunyan State Forest, Itasca State Park and the White Earth State Forest. When completed, the North Country Scenic Trail will provide a recreational hiking trail from New York to North Dakota.

Volunteer crews using primarily hand tools will construct the new trail. National Park Service trail standards will be applied, which call for avoiding wetlands, steep slopes, rare or sensitive plant species and unstable soils.

The 33-page EAW can be downloaded from this DNR website. E-mail comments (with “NC Trail” in the subject line) to environmentalreview@dnr.state.mn.us.

Jesse LaLonde explains how he became the first singlespeeder to win the Chequamegon 40 in an interview with Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter and fellow mountain biker Tom Held. There’s audio of the interview, too. Find it here.

U.S. Forest Service personnel are still busy determining which roads and trails in national parks should be open and closed to motorized users. In Wisconsin, the Travel Management Rule process mostly affects the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forests.

The Travel Management Rule – which will move the national forest to a designated system of roads and trails for off-highway vehicle (OHV) use – prohibits cross-country travel.

“This does not mean that OHVs are not allowed in the forest,” Chequamegon-Nicolet Forest Supervisor Jeanne Higgins said. “In fact, in the right places and managed carefully, OHV recreation is an appropriate use of the national forest. The Travel Management Rule provides that OHVs are to be operated on roads and trails that allow for that use.”

The Chequamegon Area Mountain Biking Association (CAMBA) is rightly concerned about ATV trails that already cross or dead end at mountain bike trails, thereby inviting ATV abuse of carefully constructed singletrack.
CAMBA oversees a regional mountain bike trail system of over 300 miles around the towns of Cable, Delta, Drummond, Hayward, Namakagon and Seeley, in national and county forests and on some private land.

The Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest will be hosting five open houses October 4-16. Drafts of the road and trail maps for the forests (based on previous meeting input) will be on display and park service employees will answer questions. Comments and suggestions regarding designations for motorized vehicle will be welcome.

The open houses are as scheduled:

• Thur., Oct. 4: Best Western Crandon Inn, Crandon
• Wed., Oct. 10: Phillips High School, Phillips
• Thur, Oct. 11: Lincoln Town Hall, Eagle River
• Mon, Oct. 15: Lakewoods Resort, Cable
• Tues., October 16: Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center, Ashland

The scheduled open houses will start with formal presentations at 6 p.m. and will continue, from 6:45 p.m. to 8 p.m., with opportunities to view the maps and talk to park officials.

In early October, the maps will be available at district offices and on the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest website. For additional information on the Open Houses, call Joan Marburger at 715/762-5178 or BJ Johnson at 715/362-1335.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has reopened the Root River Trail in southeastern Minnesota following the recent flooding. Only a 400-foot stretch of the trail between Lanesboro and Whalen remained closed in mid-September because it was washed out.

Windy Block, city administrator for the town of Rushford, said his community welcomes bikers and trail users but wants to make sure visitors understand that a good portion of the city is still trying to clean up from the flooding that caused extensive property damage.

“We want people to enjoy the trail, but also be sensitive to our residents and community,” Block said. “We need them to stay on the trail and not go sightseeing through town where they could interfere with the clean-up efforts.”

The Root River State Trail is a 42-mile-long multiple-use trail through the rural communities of Fountain, Lanesboro, Whalan, Peterson, Rushford and Houston.

Doug Swanson, 29, (#35) of Plymouth, Minn., won the Cable Criterium but was beat at the line in an earlier qualifying race (shown here) by Tristan Schouten, 25, (#31) of Sheboygan, Wis. Chris Fisher, 29, (#18) of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., finished fifth overall. Photos by Joel Patenaude.

Doug Swanson (Trek/VW) won Sunday’s Cable Criterium at the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival for a record fifth time in his trademark style – attacking hard, establishing a lead and soloing in for victory.

Swanson, who holds the record time in the Chequamegon 40 but struggled in the longer race on Saturday, was glad to be back on form. “I was happy I could pull it off today,” Swanson said. “Yesterday, I felt good for about ten minutes at a time.”

Jesrin Gaier (Specialized) made a late run at Swanson, edging out Swanson’s teammate Tristan Schouten for second. “I was feeling good the last two laps,” said Gaier, who got caught up in traffic on the technical course. “I think if I could have gotten (Swanson’s) wheel, I could have stayed with him.” But that never happened, as Gaier could only reel in Schouten on the last lap of the miss-and-out race.

Earlier in the day, Schouten nipped Swanson in a sprint finish in a qualifying race. Schouten is the only rider to beat Swanson in the Cable Criterium since 2001.

Jenna Zander, 23, (#142) of Mankato, Minn., edged out Kyia Malenkovich, 31, (#137) of St. Cloud, Minn., for the win at the Cable Criterium.

In the women’s race, Jenna Zander (Bear Naked/Cannondale) completed her sweep of the weekend in her first ever Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival. She held off Kyia Malenkovich (Headmethod/Cannondale) by half a second. Malenkovich has won the Cable Criterium four times in her career. SyRae Welkie of Boulder, Colo. placed third.

Swanson had good things to say about the new course, which featured two tight corners and two sharp uphills. “This was the best Sunday Fun Day course we’ve had so far. I just couldn’t quite see the 25,” Swanson said. The course was laid out to look like the number 25, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the race.

Michael Gerke, who has done all of the 25 Chequamegon Fat Tire Festivals, nearly won the 2007 Rough Stuff Rendezvous, an orienteering race in the woods around Telemark Resort. Gerke, who has won the event for four years, was edged out by John Manders. In the women’s Rough Stuff, Melissa Dupke won the event by over 20 minutes.

For full results, go to itiming.com.

– Mark Parman