Court forces DNR to do its job....
-Mike
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NEWS RELEASE-From Friends of L.O.G. Greenway, Inc.
Court Prohibits DNR from allowing ATVs and
Snowmobiles on new State Trail in Polk County
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
For Immediate Release
Contact: Glenn Stoddard, Attorney for Friends
of L.O.G. Greenway and Richard Roos
(715) 864-3057 or (715) 852-0345
Eau Claire, WI-In a closely watched and very
significant case for users of Wisconsin's state
trails, Polk County Judge Molly GaleWyrick
issued a decision earlier this week which
prohibits the Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources (DNR) from allowing the use of
motorized all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and
snowmobiles on the new Amery to Dresser State
Trail in Polk County, Wisconsin. The Amery to
Dresser State Trail is a segment of the over
1700 mile newly designated "Aldo Leopold State
Trail System."
The court decision for the petitioners, a trail
conservation and recreation group named Friends
of L.O.G. Greenway, Inc. and an individual
property owner named Richard Roos, came after
protracted litigation in two different cases
against DNR over its decisions to approve a
motorized trail plan approved by Polk County.
The plan would have allowed ATVs and snowmobiles
to be used on the scenic and environmentally
sensitive Amery to Dresser State Trail, which
the petitioners and the City of Amery had
expected to be used only for walking, bicycling,
cross-country skiing, and other non-motorized
uses.
In her decision against DNR, Judge GaleWyrick
ruled that the state trail statute, Wis. Stat. §
23.175(2)(a), "plainly limits state trails to
non-motorized use"; that DNR's environmental
assessment (EA) for the Amery to Dresser Trail
was "unreasonable" because it considered the
trail as a local resource rather than as a
segment of the much larger statewide trail
system; and that DNR violated a 2005 stipulated
court order with the same petitioners by once
again accepting Polk County's motorized master
plan for the trail when it approved the final
EA. The court remanded the matter to DNR "for
further proceedings consistent with Wis. Stats.
§ 1.11 and Wisconsin Administrative Code Ch. NR
150." The decision also stated that: "The DNR
is specifically ordered to prohibit use of
motorized vehicles on the trail unless they meet
the limited exceptions found in Wis. Stat.
23.175 or Wisconsin Administrative Code § NR
51.70 to 51.75." (These exceptions are only for
"riders of electric personal assistive mobility
devices.")
According to Attorney Glenn Stoddard, who
represented the petitioners in both cases: "This
decision is a victory for everyone who is
concerned about adverse environmental impacts of
ATVs on Wisconsin's state trails. It is also a
major victory for the petitioners and all
non-motorized users of the Amery to Dresser
State Trail, because ATVs and snowmobiles
conflict directly with the non-motorized uses of
such trails. Hopefully, it will be a wake-up
call for DNR that will enable the agency to do a
better job of addressing environmental issues
and use conflicts on state trails in the future."
-End-
Glenn M. Stoddard
Attorney at Law
130 S. Barstow Street
Suite 2C
Eau Claire, WI 54701
Tel: (715) 852-0345
Fax: (715) 852-0349
Email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Website: <http://www.stoddardlawoffice.com>www.stoddardlawoffice.com
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