Proposal to consider reopening Blue Mound State Park snowmobile trail approved
http://dnr.wi.gov/news/releases/article/?id=3437
MADISON - A proposal to reopen a long-abandoned snowmobile trail through Blue Mound State Park will be considered as part of a master plan amendment process that was approved by the state Natural Resources Board meeting in Madison today.
Blue Mound State Park, located along the border of Dane and Iowa counties, was developed in the 1960s and has served as a popular area for Wisconsin park users, in particular trail users for biking, hiking, cross-country skiing, and at one point more than 20 years ago, snowmobiling.
A master plan that establishes the level and type of public uses permitted in the park was completed in 1984. Since then there have been two revisions to the plan to authorize an expansion of biking and cross-country ski trails and for a new indoor shelter.
Recently, state and local advocates for snowmobiling have requested the Department of Natural Resources re-open a snowmobile trail in the Pleasure Valley area of the park that was abandoned in the early 1980s when a neighboring property was closed to snowmobiling, making the trail through Blue Mounds a dead end. That property has since changed ownership, making it possible the trail could reopen.
Because the snowmobile trail has been abandoned for so long, and additional ski, snowshoe, biking and hiking trails have been developed in the Pleasure Valley area, DNR staff determined the reopening the trail would require a master plan amendment. There are other bike and cross-country ski trails located in the park that may have been constructed outside of the current master plan provisions and the amendment process would also review the placement of those trails.
With the board's approval the department will now open the process for a master plan amendment review. DNR staff will now begin a more thorough review of the request for a snowmobile trail along with current park use. Public meetings will be scheduled and a comment period will be held to solicit feedback on the proposal. The end proposal that will be brought back to the board in the future may include recommendations for no changes, changes that would remove trails, or changes that would add trails to the plan.
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DNR Office of Communications. DNR Spokesperson: Bill Cosh (608) 267-2773