I first must admit that I only recently heard about this border-to-border route being proposed for off road four-wheel vehicles and have a few questions and comments.
First off, in my nearly seven decades as a Minnesotan, I have never once heard anyone say, “Wouldn’t it be great to drive some crappy back roads from Cook County to North Dakota.” And when Rick Langness, president of the Minnesota Four-Wheel Drive Association, states in his passionate letter to the Herald that they estimate “12 to 15” more vehicles a week on these backwood byways, it sounds like a paltry percentage of Minnesota citizens. I believe that a more enlightening estimate would be: What percentage of the state’s population will not benefit by this project?
Also, it’s made to sound as if there will be no cost to taxpayers, yet two representatives – Mary Straka and Kevin Johnson – from the DNR were leading a meeting at the Cook County commissioner’s room; so, who’s paying their wages, the Transportation Fairies? It should also be noted that when Clearwater County rejected the idea, Ms. Straka states that she’ll “meet with them again to discuss this resolution in further detail.”
That’s government speak for: It’s already been decided and all of these meetings are just Kabuki Theater for the ignorant masses.
Ron Potter, a former DNR employee, has already driven the route, so apparently it exists. So, pardon me, but with the state involved, this whole endeavor sounds like a great way to turn a free and simple idea into a costly quagmire of government quicksand and the likely formation of the Bureau of Backroad Navigation.
And when the price of hunting and fishing licenses rises, and road repair becomes more frequent, the DNR will claim that it has nothing to do with the B-to-B touring route.
Ron Wizykoski
Hovland
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