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An effort to give the local economy a much needed boost was denied by the Minnesota DNR this past week.
The Prospector ATV Club received strong support from area businesses to counter the loss of snowmobile tourism this winter with a proposal to reopen ATV trails for the month of March.
“Snowmobile traffic this winter has been basically non-existent and we’re trying to help our area businesses survive with the loss of revenue,” said Prospector Club president Nick Wognum. “At Blomberg’s gas station in Babbitt they went from over 5,000 snowmobile customers last winter to 30 this winter. That’s a terrible financial loss.”
The DNR answered the Prospector request a week after it was submitted.
“Besides DNR and Forest Service lands, the Prospector trail system crosses a mosaic of various other landownerships including private, industrial, township, city, and county lands. Any changes to the terms of the DNR lease requires an internal process to review potential ecological impacts on DNR lands and consultation with adjacent landowners who would be impacted,” wrote DNR employees Clarissa Spicer and John Vogess in the DNR’s Grand Rapids office.
Wognum said both St. Louis and Lake counties were in approval of the Prospector’s request and there hadn’t been opposition from other land owners along the 216-mile route. Portions of the Prospector system, such as the Taconite Trail, are not under club management.
“We could have proceeded without the Taconite being open and we had conversations with the DNR about this but there just wasn’t an interest in finding a way to help local businesses,” said Wognum.
“Right now, there is not enough time to solicit agreements with affected landowners, partners, and interested stakeholders to explore an amendment to the lease to open the Prospector’s trail system any earlier than May 1st this year,” the DNR letter stated.
