March 9, 2023 at 1:58 p.m.
Oneida County forestry committee considers Pelican River Forest conservation easement
That said, the agenda item was an information only matter, but there were several members of the public who wished to weigh in on the land easement purchase.
Paul Hagen from the Pel-Cho Mudd Nutz ATV/UTV club spoke about safety, which he said, was of utmost importance to his club and to others. This land easement, he said, would allow clubs to move ATV/UTV traffic off of blacktopped roads, in large part. He said the Conservation Fund easement would address those safety issues as well as allow access for motorized vehicles on this large section of land.
Hagen alleged that the current owners of the land were "not good neighbors" and impossible to work with as far as ATV/UTV trails and access. Most of the roads allowing access had been gated. Walking or biking through the Managed Forest Law (MFL) property was allowed, but he said motorized vehicle access had been kept to a minimum.
Dennis Schoeneck of Enterprise said he would love to see ATV/UTV traffic taken off of blacktopped roads as well. However, he said, this easement was not needed in order for that to happen. He said the clubs could work with the land owner just the way things were now and it should not require an easement in order for those groups to work out creating trails and motorized access through the property.
Bob Kraetsche said the easement did not involve public land, but private land. Further, he said, that land was already in the MFL program, meaning there would be no change to the tax base. The easement, however, would mean that any trails built through the property would be there forever, rather than clubs and the county having to re-negotiate with each new land owner to keep those trails.
Ron Gropp, who manages the conservation easement program for the Department of Natural Resources, was on hand to answer any questions the committee might have. He reminded the committee that they were not talking about public land, but private land. The state was not purchasing the land, he said. The idea, however, was to purchase an easement for that land, thereby allowing the land to be open to all of the uses about which the committee and those in attendance were speaking. He said the land owner would still have management of the land and the forest, but the purchase would allow the public to utilize that land. The committee asked whether there might be an opportunity to have a time limit on the easement if, for instance, in 30 years the county found that piece of land to be "absolutely critical." Gropp said those type of easements get "tricky," and said that would not be an option.
Beckie Gaskill may be reached via email at [email protected].
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