REGIONAL- Plans to add up to 125 miles to the Voyageur Country ATV Club’s trail system have been released by the Department of Natural Resources for public comment.
The proposed project would connect the existing Voyageur Country system with communities in Koochiching County, including International Falls, Littlefork, Ray and unorganized territories of East Koochiching, Rainy Lake, and northwest St. Louis County. The project includes 39 miles of existing routes that will not see any changes, 78 miles of existing route with improvements and eight miles of new trail construction. Existing routes include cleared utility corridors, current recreational trails of various types such as current ATV or snowmobile trails, currently designated mixed-use trails, hiking or hunting trails, forest and logging roads, and streets, township, and county roads.
“Our main focus would be to be able to get from Crane Lake all the way right up into International Falls, Littlefork, Big Falls so you can take off and hit some of the communities there,” Voyageur Country ATV board member Kurt Kennedy told the Timberjay on Monday. “It’s quite a connector, that’s what it would be. Right now, you can easily get from Crane Lake to Ely and then pretty much to the North Shore, so to open this up that would get us International Falls to the North Shore basically if you wanted to ride it.”
And while some areas of the state lend themselves well to new trail development, utilizing existing trails and roadways is essential for expanding the network in Koochiching County, Kennedy said, as building new trails would be cost prohibitive.
“One of our downfalls in Koochiching County is that it’s 80 percent wetlands up here so that gets to be another fly in the ointment, if you want to call it that. It makes trail making much more difficult – that’s why we want to utilize as much existing county road or whatever that we can.”
Trail segments proposed for development include:
• Rainier Connector – a four-mile trail that would connect with the Ericsburg to International Falls trail.
• Blue Ox to Pelland Junction – six miles a portion of which is on the Haggerman Voyager Lowman snowmobile trail/Blue Ox State trail, where ATV traffic is currently allowed.
• Ericsburg to International Falls – 14.5 miles of ATV trail on existing routes.
• Galvin Spur – eight miles along existing utility corridor and Galvin Rd, connecting with the Littlefork Connection.
• Littlefork Connection – 44 miles of trail connecting Littlefork to Ray, utilizing a combination of existing roads and trails.
• Kab Store to Ericsburg – 23 miles of trail, utilizing county roads and portions of the existing Voyageur Trails, Haggerman Voyageur Lowman Trail, and Arrowhead State Trail as well as logging roads.
• Ray Spur – a half-mile connector to the Kab Store to Ericsburg trail.
• FR612A to Black Duck Connector – approximately 1.5 miles of new trail and 1,300 feet of existing trail that would connect to the existing Voyageur Country ATV trail system, including the Elephant Lake to Lake Kabetogama Connector.
Kennedy emphasized that the 50-plus page Environmental Assessment Worksheet developed for the expansion proposal represents, in essence, a wish list of what the club would like to accomplish. But as of this point no formal arrangements have been made for the proposed trails, no engineering plans have been developed for needed improvements, and most significantly, no new funding has yet been allocated to finance the project. How all of those needs come together if the EAW is approved will determine what eventually gets built over the next three to five years.
Kennedy noted that the club’s Phase 1 expansion, approved in 2021, has items that have not been built in favor of pursuing more viable options.
A copy of the Phase 2 project is available on the DNR website at mndnr.gov/input/environmentalreview/voyageur-country-trail-expansion.html. A printed copy can be requested by calling 651-259-5694, or may be viewed at the International Falls Public Library, 750 4th St. in International Falls.
Comments on the EAW must be submitted no later than 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 26. Email comments should be sent to environmentalrev.dnr@state.mn.us with “Voyageur ATV Phase 2 Project” in the subject line. Mail comments should be sent to the attention of Kathy Metzker, EAW project manager, Environmental Policy and Review Unit, DNR Ecological and Water Resources Division, 500 Lafayette Road N, St. Paul, MN 55155-4025.
Anyone providing a mailing address or submitting comments via email will receive a copy of the decision document, which includes responses to comments. Because all comments and related information are part of the public record for this environmental review, commenters’ names and email or postal addresses will be published and publicly available as they appear in the materials they submit.