helen.cozzetto@dnr.state.mn.us

Thats the one I sent to. Are you trying to send from work? Does it come back as undeliverable?

 

No, I am sending from my own pc. I wrote about 5 times and got sick and tired of getting rejected. I live in the summer time right next to paul bunyan state forest so am very concerned about what happens there and the other state forest. I believe I will join a local club up there and be more supportive to the sport. I ride around up there and run into areas that people use as dumps and kids have their beer parties. I think atvers get blamed for some of that which is unfair. But I do think that we have to start policing ourselves better if we plan on riding in the future. Stay on trails and stop tearing up the landscape. I am glad to see that there is a lot of support on this forum.

 

Whodat... I agree with supporting groups that are fighting for access rights... but I 'll take you to task on the numbers deal... I for one don't care how they got the people there.. Whether it was because of bussing, or due to an email campaign.. it doesn't matter.. they showed up enmasse. And that is a GOOD thing. It got somebody's attention.. and now they will make darn sure that anything said is going to be correct.. and not the hysterical nonsense the environmental lobby would like us to believe.

It is time for people in power to know that we are listening, and paying attention to what is said, how they vote, and who is on our side or against us. I also hope that every person in America will stop giving these maniacs their funding to save the whales, when the dollars are really being used to take our riding rights away.

KUDO's to MN residents for leading the way.....

 

Where the strategy for these logical disconnects comes from eludes me. No one said that the ATV manufacturers forced employees to attend. That’s something you made up in your own head. This does not surprise me.

The DNR has a difficult role in both protecting the natural resources and environment while providing for appropriate use of those resources for the recreation of the public. This dual role is not something easily balanced and the task to do it successfully must be difficult.

I agree that it is fortunate that the DNR recognized the problems in the plan being presented and is going back to the drawing board. As I have posted before – if mistakes are made – point them out!

Again – the real issue is that not enough people are participating in the public hearings. I believe 30,000 people should have been at that meeting protesting the plan – not 2800.

 

so draggin brings up a good point who cares how they got there as long as they went. right? and 30,000 people in this small community would be impossible the size of warroad is roughly 3000 people total this is a very small community. and what they are proposing for trails in beltrami is just not acceptable most of the roughly 500 miles are gravel roads and what 54 miles are gonna be used for atv's only. with all the traffic up there on these trails they will be overused and ripped to shread's. one person at the meeting asked with all the money we spend on hunting, fishing, snowmobile, atv, and boating license how much of that is put forth to beltrami state forrest. their response virtually none. so where is this money going there are some simple fixes to these problems. say there is a trail 50 miles long and 2 miles go through swamp instead of rerouting for them 2 miles they wanna close down the whole trail. (btw this was all brought up during the meeting). and on a positive note in this immediate area we don't have an atv club that takes care of our own so about 10 of us got together and are contemplating on starting up an atv club in minnesota or extending off one further south of us we just don't know how we are going to do it yet but sometimes the people gotta take things into their own hands.

 

Weez, you and everyone up there should be very proud. GREAT JOB!!!!!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I agree, great job... But I am a little concerned over the negative reaction towards DNR all the time.

As an outsider, it appears to me that they are sort of caught in the middle and catching heck from all sides. IF I understand things correctly, DNR is trying to fight FOR access against the Environmentalists... and that there is congressional support that opposes closures... I also understand that perhaps their plan didn't go far enough, and that is why the turnout and hostility....

I think the DNR got the message here... or at least I would hope so... Perhaps now their responses can be better coordinated with the enthusiast groups. The wrong thing would be to treat them as an enemy, and they lean towards the other side.

You must remember that the holding of these meetings, and the overwhelming turnouts are good things.... It generates positive media coverage, and gets the message out to the public. Close coordination is paramount.. but let them do their work too. I think you have a potential allie here.

 

thank you for the compliment mod we appreciate any support we get from anyone cause we all know that there are 54 state forrests in minnesota and this was the start of what we can expect in all of them. you have some very good points draggin and i agree we should be working with the dnr and they should be working with us which seems to maybe be happening, for when summer kinda rolls around again sounds like they are gonna go up there and assess the trails a lil more closely. there are a few reasons why the dnr got the reaction from the public they did. 1. they went up there and inventoried all the trails and did all this without the public or local politions knowing about it. 2. the miles of trails they want to just shut down is completely unacceptable. 3. the dnr hasn't been and doesn't seem like they plan on spending any of our tax dollars on correcting this just wanna shut down the trails. 4. well today i seen it again a brand new chevy truck with a brand new polaris snowmobile in the back of it the dnr was driving around and we all know where that money came from. i have yet to see them drive anything more then a couple years old. 5. i have seen them do little to nothing to help the wildlife specially in the harsh months you may all remember when grand forks flooded in the spring of 1997. there was so much snow the deer were dying of starvation all over the place just dropping dead and the dnr didn't do anything about it. so that is 5 of actually quite a few reasons the dnr isn't very well liked by me there are a few others but they can redeem themselves right here and now if they work with us.

 

Yeah, but don't cloud the issues with hostile predjudices... The goal is to let them know that closure of trails is not acceptable, and work with them to find a common ground, so that together you can work against the real foe.. the environmental lobbyists. I think you accomplished the first, now the real work starts on teh harder issues of number two.

Trucks, snowmobiles etc all are tools they need to do their jobs. As for deer dying... well, I think that is Nature at it's worst. I am not specialist, but I imagine that even if there had been a feeding plan etc.. some deer would have still died. Part of being a naturalist is to let Nature take it's course. even when it turns ugly... Those that survive are stronger for it... and in turn the herd is healthier.

 

Awesome! My hats off to Arctic Cat and Polaris!