Has anyone got a deffinate answer on what the laws are if you ride in Wisconsin and your quad is registered in Michigan. The local DNR John Windt says I have to regester it in Wi. and his bosses in Madison say my Mi. registration is good.
Steve
98 Grizzly

 

Here is a response to an email i asked.




You can operate in Wisconsin with an out of state registration for up to 15
consecutive days. Have a safe and fun ride.
Rita Harnack
Department of Natural Resources
Registration and Special Permitting
Madison WI
(608)264-8985
FAX(608)264-6130

> ----------
> From:
> Sent: Monday, May 28, 2001 9:48 PM
> To: harnar@dnr.state.wi.us
> Subject: Registration
>
> I am unsure if you are the correct contact, but found your name on the DNR
> page for snowmobile registration.
>
> I was wondering about ATV registration. A couple of friends and myself
> have
> ATV's that are registered in Michigan(have state and trail permits). We
> live
> in Illinois. Are the Michigan registration/permit allowed instead of
> registering in Wisconsin?
>
> Thanks,
>
TextText

 

According to John Windt, if your machine is actually registered in another state, (not titled) you are eligible to ride in the state of Wisconsin. Michigan does not have registration. We have titles and we have to buy orv trail passes yearly. This trail pass is NOT honored in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin ORV rules and regulation booklet printed in 1997 is very vague on who can ride in Wisconsin. I interpreted it to be that if my vehicle was titled in another state, I could ride in Wisconsin. According to John Windt, (who wrote numerous tickets to riders from other states not having Wisconsin registration) Not so...Registration is a licensing procedure which assigns a number, just like a license plate to your orv. So, who is right? It is really scary having DNR officers out there interpreting the law instead of enforcing it. I talked to Louis at the Wisconsin DNR office in Florence. She takes care of atv registration there, she was not aware of the change that John Windt was enforcing. I talked to a Coservation officer there as well, David Lindsley, and he was not sure of the interpretation. I have come to the conclusion that Wisconsin doesnt like atvs. Did you know that Miller Brewery is the biggest lobbiest against ATVS? You can thank them.
One more thing, All Polaris Sportsman 500's are to heavy for Wisconsin trails. You wont find that in the antiquated orv manual. There is legislation to bump up that weight to 800#. I think that the Wisconsin DNR has done enough damage. Look what happend at Hurley! Word of mouth goes a long way. Tell your friends that Wisconsin isnt ATV Friendly and spend your money in another state. Like Michigans Upper Penninsula!
jigginjack
2001 "to heavy to ride" Sportsman HO
charter member of The "HO" Train

 

Jack,
Curious, what has Miller Brewing done specifically to become one of the biggest lobbyists against atvs and what is the status of the Norway trail system(closed when there last). What type of terrain and how scenic is this area? Thanks!

 

The Miller Brewery family had two of their children injured on atvs. They dont like them and do lobby against them. The only trail that is closed on the Norway system is a 7 mile stretch which happens to have a beaver dam on it. This is a very rough trail but rideable. You can make it across the Beaverdam. The water is about two and a half foot deep. I would recomend you bypass this and stay on the cassidy creek trail. This will bring you out on the Norway truck trail. Once you reach that, you can ride to felch, Carney Lake, or Groveland mine area.
jggijack
2001 Polaris Sportsman HO
To Heavy to ride in Wisconsin
charter member of The "HO" Train

If you want to ride in this area, let me know.

 

I contacted Rita Harnack and this is what she had to say:
"The law in Wis requires that Michigan have a registration system in order for us to waive the Wis registration. A registration system requires that the state of Mich issue a numbered stiker and that they keep track of the person or machine to whom the number is assigned. They do not do this. Accordingly we cannot recognize their system which is essentially only a trail pass system, titlin is not the same as registration."
So, if you have a machine and want to ride in Wisconsin, you better register it, as long as it meets the weight requirement.
jigginjack
2001 Polaris Sportsman HO
To heavy for Wisconsin trails
Charter member of The "HO" Train

 

Michimaniac:
I appologize for not answering you question on how scenic the area is. It is quite beautiful. Unfortunately, most of the real scenic areas are not accesible by atv. however, there is still alot of rivers, streams, mud, and certaily miles of fun.60% of the trails we ride are owned by Mead corporation or International Paper. The Michigan Dnr has done nothing here in the past four years. I would like to organize an atv club in this area and try to improve our trails and convert them into a trail system. Alot of work. Mention work and see how fast people dissapear. Anyway, very scenic area with some scenic overlooks.
jiggigjack
2001 Polaris Sportsman HO
charter member of The "HO" Train

 

Jack,
Really appreciate your offer and the information. Hope you received the e-mail. Another trail that looked interesting was the one SE of you down by the lake(Cedar River?). Also talked with a gentlemen(older) that did a lot of riding/trail maintenance in Iron Mountain and all the trails pretty much north and west of there.(Houghton/Hancock,Dahnner,Iron River,etc.)Club dues were like $5/year.

 

Michimaniac:
The Cedar River Trail is a very nice trail system. You can start at the Cedar River or at the other end near Bark River. It is not a long trail, about 56 miles round trip but it is a fun trail. Very scenic with native stands of Hemlock and White Pine. Not a difficult trail. Good for the entire family. We usually start just south of Bark River and then lunch at Cedar River at the Light House. There are trails to the south of us near Dunbar Wi. (about 20 miles sothwest of Norway) Of course you have to have Wisconsin registration to ride there. The process takes about 4-6 weeks and if you drive a machine greater than 650#, forget about the registration.
Dickinson County has numerous trails ranging in difficulty. We have several rides that we do and usually have a lunch at a saloon along the way. Our next venture will be a two night camping outing but we will have to wait untill the deer flies and noseums go away. Woodticks too!!
There are alot of trails in Iron County. I have not done much riding up there in the past few years so I dont know what improvements the Dnr has done.In this area, it is mostly riding on corporate property such as logging roads, old trails, etc. Some of these can be pretty challenging. all depends on how muddy a person wants to get.
jigginjack
2001 Polaris HO
The "Way OUT" of Wisconsin
charter member of The "HO" Train

 

While riding the trail systems I have seen a few people with only Michigan stickers, the thing is I don't know if this is legal after what you guys are saying. There isn't always a person checking registration so I don't know if it's legal or not. I only saw one deputy on an Arctic cat once on the dusty trail system in Oconto county. Why do they have slow machines, if they go after someone on a sport machine they have no chance. There is a 650lb weight limit, we have been trying to change it for 2 or 3 years with no luck. They were letting the sportsman 500 in until 2001, the 500s registered before the change of the year were grand-fathered in.

Dunbar is awesome, the trails are easy to ride and well groomed, at least when I went.

Another person you may want to ask is Randy Harden,-rharden@bytehead.com-

I could scan the page with the registration information so you can see what you think. That's the problem with the stupid laws they are open to "interpretation" You could ask a lot of people and they will give you different answers. Then you might tink you are legal only to find out you're not, or the warden don't know for sure, so they write you a ticket anyway.

How about someone from Wisconsin riding in Michigan? I'm thinking about trying Dumont, but I don't know if I need a Michigan registration, and I heard about something like a fee at the riding area. I also heard they are picky about the whip flags.