The Forests and Wildlife Stewards have been deeply involved in off road vehicle issues, and saving gray wolves in Minnesota.
To protect land from off road vehicles, we first need to stop a bill from the industry that would expand ATV trails, damaging fragile ecosystems. These new ATV trails would create dust and debris which can devastate nearby water and its inhabitants, compact soil resulting in poor water absorption and possible flooding, and spread invasive species.
In contrast, legislation to protect the environment are HF2791 (House bill) and SF1324 (Senate version) that represent common sense approaches to building new ATV trails in Minnesota. Among the provisions:
- New trails would require an EAW (Environmental Assessment Worksheet). Now, any trail less than 25 miles can be created without any assessment. This allows trails to be constructed to any length simply by creating them in 25-mile increments. The Chisholm trail, for example is 57 miles long and no EAW has ever been done.
- Local control must be required if a new trail is being constructed. Currently a trail through Eagle Pass is going forward despite city complaints because the County wants it.
- All ATV trails should have signage. Currently, north of Highway 2, anything that looks like a trail is open for ATV use regardless of whether or not it is authorized. If a rogue user made their own path, all others are allowed to follow. This is not allowed south of Highway 2.
Please support these bills by contacting your representatives. For more information see www.mnplc.org
On another important issue, the Forests and Wildlife Stewards are working to save gray wolves from hunting and trapping for sport. We strongly disagree with this approach and are working tirelessly to stop this heinous practice. Wolves in Minnesota and the Great Lakes region are now protected by the Endangered Species Act. However, should those protections be reversed, current Minnesota State Law allows for a hunting/trapping season of wolves. We are working with other concerned groups, such as Howling for Wolves, to pass a law that would ban hunting and trapping of wolves in our state.