A public hearing on a request to open 2.6 miles of the mid-Gunflint Trail to ATVs will be held Tuesday, May 12, at 10 a.m. during the regular county commissioners’ meeting. The request is from the Cook County ATV Club. Since 2009, the Gunflint has been closed to ATV traffic above County Road 60.
A statement distributed recently by the club to Cook County commissioners says the request is generated by recent Forest Service decisions to open several forest roads to ATVs. The newly-opened forest roads connect to county roads that are also open for ATV traffic. The resulting configuration of open roads nearly completes what has long been a priority of ATVers—a route over a mix of forest roads and paved Trail that could be ridden from Devil Track Lake to the mid-Trail area.
Making the route totally complete requires ATV access to 2.6 miles of the Trail between Lima Grade Road and the Black Bear Lodge, which is what the club has requested. The underlying rationale seems to be that since the priority route easily could be established it goes without saying that it should be established.
In my opinion, a route that is easily completed does not by default become a route that is necessary.
And in this case, bringing ATVs into the fast-moving mix of traffic we see in the mid-Trail area is worse than unnecessary—it is unsafe. The long-standing problems with speeding remain, despite a 40 mph speed limit in effect for roughly three miles.
The mid-Trail corridor is definitely unfriendly terrain for All-Terrain Vehicles.
Alice Weck
St. Paul, MN and Grand Marais
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