Most Recent ATV Access Discussion Stirs Sour Memories in Cook County
Oct 07, 2024 07:54AM ● By Content Editor
Photo: ATVS on muddy road: The Forest Service has published reports focused on ATV use on federal land. Submitted photo
By Joe Friedrichs - Boreal Community Media - October 7, 2024
Motors and quiet places. Engines and the wilderness. The messy intersection of motorized and non-motorized recreation is the subject of decades-long wrangling in Cook County, which will likely endure for many years. However, words such as “compromise” are being used in 2024 as the debate resurfaces in the public spotlight, giving hope for the long entrenchment from opposing viewpoints.
The most recent example illustrating the debate comes via a request by the Cook County ATV Club to allow nearly year-round access on a popular snowmobile trail that runs along the North Shore.
The idea, on the surface, is simple: Allow all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) to ride on the C.J. Ramstad/North Shore State Trail, where they are currently not allowed.
However, as it goes when the issue of “motors or no motors” surfaces, there are many layers to the topic, spirited sentiments on both sides of the issue, and numerous levels of government involved in determining the outcome.
The Issue
In late May, the Cook County ATV club contacted the county with the intent of garnering support for changing how the snowmobile trail is used. The club needed the support of the county, they reasoned, to make a request to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to change its policy for the North Shore State Trail, and allow for the construction of a more robust, year-round multiuse trail that is available to ATV use. About a month later, on June 26, Mitch Travis, who works in the county’s land services department and is involved with the parks and trails commission, arranged a meeting with staff from the DNR, the U.S. Forest Service, various county officials, and members of the Cook County ATV Club. The intent of the meeting was to get “all of the relevant stakeholders” in one room to better comprehend what the change would mean for the trail, according to county documents. Absent from the meeting were any representatives from hiking or cycling clubs, typically referred to as “silent sports” user groups.
Regardless, the easiest explanation for how the snowmobile trail would change if it does open to ATV use is that it would be widened and lined with aggregate material (small rocks) from the western edge of Cook County to an intersection with County Rd 6. As it stands now, the C.J. Ramstad/North Shore State Trail is a 146-mile, multi-purpose, natural surface trail from Duluth to Grand Marais. The DNR describes the trail as one that “runs through St. Louis, Lake and Cook counties, winding its way through the forests on the ridgeline overlooking Lake Superior. The trail provides access to some of the most rugged and beautiful scenery in Minnesota.”
If the plan is altered, motorized use would become more year-round rather than just snowmobiles in the winter. If it moves forward, the request will change nearly 70 miles of dedicated multi-use trail (including snowmobiles, hikers, horseback riders, and mountain bikes). Some of the user groups complain that it currently difficult to traverse during times when the trail is saturated with water or if the grass grows too high. Including the use of ATVs would create a need to construct a more robust, gravel trail, according to county officials who spoke with this reporter for this story. In turn, this could extend the usable season for snowmobilers from shortly after the first snow well into the spring thaw. Hikers, horseback riders and mountain bikers could enjoy the trails shortly after the spring melt and would no longer be subjected to long stretches of muddy areas for the first half of the summer, or tall grass later in the season, or so the reasoning goes.
In August, nearly two months after the stakeholder meeting, the Cook County Parks & Trails Commission made a recommendation to the Cook County Board of Commissioners to approve a resolution that would essentially ask the DNR to consider allowing ATVs on the snowmobile trail. During the Aug. 27 meeting of the county board, the commissioners approved that resolution on a 3-2 vote. Commissioners Dave Mills, Stacey Johnson, and Deb White supported the resolution. Commissioners Ginny Storlie and Ann Sullivan voted against.
Approving the resolution does little in the sense of changing how the trail will be used anytime soon. Again, it only results in sending a letter to the DNR asking the state to consider allowing ATVs on the snowmobile trail. Before that could happen, if it does, the state will conduct rigorous environmental reviews, obtain official public comment on the matter, and make a financial plan relevant to bringing in the gravel and essentially building the trail in a more robust manner. The Forest Service would also likely weigh in on some of these topics, primarily when it comes to environmental issues. In other words, approving the resolution, as the county board did Aug. 27, is not the same as saying “let ATVs ride on this trail.” Nonetheless, it didn’t prevent people from voicing their opposition in the motorized vs. non-motorized debate.
ATVs on muddy road 2: ATV riders on an overcast day in Cook County. Submitted image
Pike Lake Opposition
In late August, just days before the discussion about the resolution was approved by the county board, nearly a dozen people submitted, in writing, concerns about ATVs riding on the snowmobile trail. A particular group, property owners near Pike Lake, were the most adamant that allowing ATVs on the state snowmobile trail is a bad idea.
Don Pietrick owns property on Willard Lane on the far west end of Pike Lake. In voicing his concern to county officials, Pietrick said a survey by The Nature Conservancy indicated that about 72% of Americans consider the opportunity to experience peace and quiet in natural settings as a significant reason for visiting parks and other protected areas. If ATVs are allowed to ride on the snowmobile trail, Pietrick said it would have an “adverse effect on animals and human health.”
Pietrick said Cook County should “market itself as ‘The Last Quiet Place - What people come for!’”
Furthermore, Pietrick said ATVs leak fuel, transmission fluids, and coolant “which would enter wetlands and any other waters via runoff from rain events” if they are allowed to ride on the snowmobile trail. Therefore, Pietrick reasoned, “because of its incompatibility with quieter forms of tourist recreation,” ATVs on the C.J. Ramstad Trail “will degrade the Cook County tourist economy.”
In a letter she sent to county officials, Kaitlin Kimmel-Hass explained that she is an “expert in biodiversity science and ecology” with a PhD in ecology from the University of Minnesota. During her life, Kimmel-Hass, who lives near Pike Lake and uses a motorboat on the lake occasionally, said her “family has seen many ATV trails fall into disarray.”
“They become mud pits with deep ruts, making the other modes of recreation that this trail currently offers more difficult,” she wrote.
Kimmel-Hass said that “altering a 60 to 70-mile stretch of trail deserves more than a ‘brief discussion of potential implications and benefits’ before being unanimously passed.”
Kaitlin’s husband, Cook County Highway Engineer Robbie Kimmel-Hass, also questioned the reasoning behind opening the snowmobile trail to ATV use.
“Why is this needed?” Robbie Kimmel-Hass wrote, while stating that he was speaking as a property owner, not in his role as the highway engineer. “There are already several different routes that ATVs can take on roads that already exist and are wide enough to handle two-way ATV traffic.”
Robbie Kimmel-Hass also expressed concern about widening the snowmobile trail, ongoing maintenance costs included with turning the road from grass to gravel, various environmental impacts, and impacts related to tourism.
Pike Lake is a popular lake sandwiched between Lutsen and Grand Marais. It is located about 12 miles from Grand Marais. Motorboats are a common sight on Pike Lake. Robbie and Kaitlin, who live on the south shore of the lake, own a motorboat and snowmobiles. They recreate with both in and around Pike Lake. In that sense, the issue of motorized vs. non-motorized isn’t the core of the argument for some of the citizens who spoke up on this issue, and in other similar debates locally with a similar theme. However, ATVs can have much more of an impact on soil and vegetation on bare, unfrozen ground, as opposed to snowmobiles on frozen ground covered with snow. The U.S. Forest Service reports that undesirable impacts from ATVs include “severely eroded soils, disrupted wetland ecosystems, as well as general habitat destruction and degraded water quality throughout forested lands.” In that sense, the concern from some individuals in Cook County is more laser-focused on ATVs and other off-road vehicles than just machines with motors.
In 2018, for example, a proposed backcountry driving route sparked pushback in Cook County. Many of the same concerns that Hass and others raised during the Aug. 27 board meeting echoed sentiments shared by some community members about the proposed Border to Border Touring Route. That motorized touring route was described as a backcountry adventure tour for road-legal off-highway vehicles over existing gravel or paved Forest Service, DNR, or county-managed roads. The route, when finalized, was to be signed and mapped.
As various branches of government, including the county and the DNR, sought input on the touring route, there were concerns that the proposed route would not hold up to an increase in motorized traffic, and fear that the vehicles could damage trout streams and sensitive areas of the forest, including wetlands. Cook County residents also shared concerns about invasive species coming in from vehicles using the touring route. In addition, some wondered who would pay for the roads if they’re damaged. Among those voicing their concerns in 2018 was Cook County resident Mike Hofer.
Hofer is back in 2024, weighing in with similar arguments he made regarding the Border to Border Touring Route.
“Opening up the C.J. Ramstad/NSST trail to motorized travel during the hiking/biking/horseback riding season would, in my opinion, effectively end the non-motorized means of exploring and enjoying that trail,” Hofer said. “How's that for inclusivity? People hike and bike and ride horseback because it's quieter, less intrusive, less destructive, safer, etc. and considers the environment around them. Motorized travel is anything but considerate and inclusive. It's apparent that no amount of writing or speaking that I or others do is going to wake people up to what they're proposing with this type of project, or in the case of the politicians what they're approving. As we already know all too well, there will be wetlands and wild areas the trail expansion travels through that can't tolerate the kind of motorized use that some feel is necessary for ‘experiencing’ nature.”
Lineup of ATVs: Founded in 2001, the Cook County ATV Club is a Minnesota nonprofit organization. Submitted photo
Let Them Ride
Despite the hesitation of property owners near Pike Lake to embrace the notion of allowing ATVs on the snowmobile trail that runs adjacent to the lake and the North Shore, numerous individuals and organizations spoke in favor of such a plan. Among them is Cook County Sheriff Pat Eliasen.
“I support the Cook County ATV Club and their initiative in this project,” the sheriff wrote in a letter he sent in August to the county board.
Eliasen said he believes “connecting existing trails for recreational use and for public safety use” would be a benefit to the community.
The local snowmobile club, the Cook County Ridge Riders, also support the plan to allow ATVs on the snowmobile trail.
“The (allowance) of ATVs on the snowmobile trails would help us keep the trails clear all year round,” the snowmobile club wrote in their letter of support. “The ATV traffic could also help us identify issues on the trails in the event repairs may need to be made in a more timely manner.”
Also supporting the plan to allow ATVs on the trail are the Superior Timberwolves Sportsman’s Club and the Sawtooth Mountain Saddle Club. In order for the county board’s support of the resolution to move forward, the Superior Hiking Trail Association and the Superior Cycling Association also need to step forward and send letters of support. As of Oct. 1, those letters have not arrived to the county, according to Travis, who did say he’s spoken with representatives from the hiking and cycling organizations who confirmed they are planning to talk with their boards in the near future regarding a letter of support.
Kevin Johnson is the Two Harbors assistant area supervisor for the DNR’s parks and trails division. He said there are communities with tourism and outdoor recreation across the nation that have proven multi-use trails can work. Johnson said he rode an ATV near Moab, Utah, recently, and “those trails are all open to mountain bikes, horses, hikers, ATVs and Jeeps.”
Johnson said “those trails seem to work, because the expectations are that all these uses are allowed on the same trail and the uses yield to each other,” while noting that “most of these trails are on federal public lands.”
Sticking to the Facts
Despite the passions on both sides of this issue in Cook County, and the fact the conversations with many of the various stakeholders have been ongoing for months, there’s been relatively no media coverage of this topic. This reporter was contacted by a Cook County resident who explained that property owners near Pike Lake attended a Parks and Trails Commission meeting in September and felt as though due process was not taking place. Furthermore, the property owners felt statements made during an August 27 county board meeting by a member of the ATV club were “inaccurate.” This reporter contacted the club about public statements on this topic, including the comment made during the meeting, where it was said that the ATV club member would be “surprised” if anyone lived within a mile of the snowmobile trail.
However, in reviewing a map of the snowmobile trail, it is within a mile for essentially the entire section where it runs near Pike Lake, and within several hundred yards for some of the properties on the north side of the lake.
Additionally, a segment of the ATV club’s letter that was sent to the Cook County Parks & Trails Commission said, “The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources concluded that the NSST could sustain ATV traffic in its 2006 report All-Terrain Vehicle Use on the North Shore State Trail: A Feasibility Study.”
However, the extensive feasibility study by the DNR published in 2006 found that ATV traffic could not be sustained on portions of the North Shore State Trail in its present condition. Since then, the ATV club has sent the county a correction request to be made in the letter.
Despite whatever differences the ATV club and some property owners near Pike Lake have about who can use the snowmobile trail in the spring, summer, and fall, the ATV club is open to the idea of excluding the section of the trail on the north side of Pike Lake, according to Josh Engelmann, treasurer of the Cook County ATV Club.
“I would say we are open to using Mark Lake Road as a connection route to bypass the portion of the North Shore State Trail that runs along the north side of Pike Lake,” Engelmann said.
When asked about compromise to appease the property owners near Pike Lake in order to move the plan forward, Engelmann said, “We are willing to work with concerned citizens in order to reduce conflict. We were not expecting this amount of opposition, considering we were only asking for a recommendation from the county commissioners to the DNR to study the possibility of opening portions of the trail to ATV use.”
4-wheeler on bridge: More money for bridges would be a benefit to expanding the snowmobile trail to ATV use, according to some user groups of local trails. Photo by Rhonda Silence
What Happens Next
Johnson, from the DNR’s parks and trails division, said that with the support of the Cook County commissioners, he expects the C.J. Ramstad/ North Shore State Trail will get on the list for review in the State Trail Master Plan update. Additional support from the Lake County Board of Commissioners would help the process as well, Johnson said, and the Cook County ATV Club has already reached out to at least one commissioner there to request support, according to Rhonda Silence, a long-standing advocate for ATV use in Cook County.
That being the case, Johnson said the process of having the state review the North Shore snowmobile trail in regard to ATV use “may take some time, as there are several state trails ahead on list,” he noted.
If it moves forward, the “sturdily built trail” would be managed by multiple user groups, including the Cook County snowmobile and ATV clubs, and would ensure more routine upkeep, according to county officials.
Despite the nuances within Cook County, there remains a steadfast part of the population that enjoys motorized recreation. The local ATV and snowmobile clubs are robust and include many age and gender demographics. Statewide, the number of ATVs has skyrocketed in recent years, surpassing that of snowmobiles in Minnesota, a state known for its long winters.
Mitch Travis says that under the guidance of the Cook County comprehensive trails plan, allowing ATVs on the snowmobile trail “is in alignment with the county's goals to make the local trails as sustainable and inclusive as possible.”
Even if letters of support arrive from the cycling and hiking clubs on the North Shore, Travis says it could take over a decade for the DNR and Forest Service to complete environmental reviews and other analysis. There will also be numerous opportunities for public comments during that phase, Travis says.
In building the Gitchi-Gami State Bike Trail along the North Shore, the DNR has spent up to $600,000 per mile, according to the agency. A mile-and-a-half section of the trail near Lutsen came with a price tag of $1.5 million. As of this fall, only several segments of the Gitchi-Gami State Trail have been completed, totaling some 33 miles. When complete, the trail will be an 86-mile paved trail for non-motorized use, connecting Two Harbors to Grand Marais. At the time of the DNR’s study in 2005, it was estimated the cost to make the snowmobile trail accessible for ATV use would be $577,000, covering nearly 150 miles. Silence from the ATV club is quick to point out that such a cost would be much higher in 2024 than in 2005.
Regardless, if the plan to allow ATVs on the snowmobile trail is approved, it could take 10 to 15 years to build the trail, or, more appropriately, change it from grass to gravel. In other words, in a best-case scenario for those who support this plan, it is likely decades from becoming a reality. Engelmann and Silence both said their reason for requesting access to the snowmobile trail is simple: To allow a connected trail that avoids all the zigzagging that comes with traveling on the backroads. In a sense, it’s the same scenario cyclists and other non-motorized users will have when the Gitchi-Gami Trail is complete, or that the Superior Hiking Trail has now. In other words, they want a level playing field, the ATV group says.
“I do feel that ATV users are underserved in Cook County,” Engelmann said.
