REGIONAL- A draft proposal for a Frozen Lake Surface Access and Use Plan at Voyageurs National Park got a chilly reception from area park patrons in three public meetings last week, with the overriding question being why such a plan was necessary when the current largely unregulated system has worked since the park’s founding in 1971.
The Kabetogama Town Hall was filled nearly to capacity for the first meeting on Tuesday, April 18. VNP Superintendent Bob DeGross facilitated the meeting, which began with an overview of the plan and the rationale for it. A virtual meeting was conducted on Wednesday, April 19, and another in-person meeting was held in International Falls on Thursday, April 20.
Current conditions
Ice roads on Kabetogama and Rainy lakes were common prior to the establishment of the park, and in 1979 the National Park Service began plowing ice roads on Rainy Lake. Today, ice roads are created and maintained on both lakes by park staff. A designated snowmobile trail system provides access to greater portions of the park. However, visitors use a variety of off-road vehicles including ATVs, UTVs, street-legal vehicles, and other non-snowmobile vehicles on areas away from the ice roads, a practice that doesn’t comply with federal regulations for national parks. Ice fishing is allowed in the park, but over time ice houses have evolved into essentially campers that can be lowered onto the ice.
Rationale and plan
An access and use plan is necessary, park officials say, because the management of vehicles on frozen lake surfaces is out of compliance with relevant federal regulations for off-road usage, and that an unregulated increase in the number and weight of ice shelters raises concerns for safety, visitor experiences, and the park’s natural resources.
The preliminary proposal formulated by park staff would create two usage zones in the park.
A moderate use zone that would include Lake Kabetogama and part of Rainy Lake would include 20-26 miles of ice roads, based on weather conditions, available staff, and funding. An access fee would be charged to use the ice roads. Off-road vehicle use, parking, and ice shelters would be allowed within 300 feet of ice roads. ORVs, which must be licensed or registered by the state, would not be allowed to operate outside of the 300-ft. parking area and ice roads. No limits for the time being would be placed on the number and size of ice shelters. If an ice shelter is placed beyond 300 feet from an ice road, it would have to be transported by snowmobile or non-motorized methods.
A low use zone would include all of Rainy Lake east of Cranberry Bay, Namakan Lake, Sand Point Lake, Mukooda Lake, and interior lakes associated with a designated snowmobile trail. The low use zone would be open to snowmobiles only, not off-road vehicles. All types of ice houses would be permitted, provided they are transported by snowmobile or non-motorized methods and are occupied. Commercial Use Authorization permit holders could be left for longer terms with prior approval.
Kabetogama comments
The Timberjay obtained an audio recording of the public comment portion of the Kabetogama meeting, which was conducted in a format different from what park officials had originally planned, which was to have attendees present their feedback individually to park personnel placed around the room.
But it became clear that the large crowd in attendance wanted to hear all the feedback.
“What you hear from people here is, I believe, very meaningful, and that’s what we’re missing in our society today,” one woman said. “People want to hear what everybody has to say.”
“It’s called dialogue,” another person said. “How about some?”
DeGross was immediately accommodating.
“I’m more than willing to take the time to do that,” he said.
Multiple comments hit on the timing of the plan, asking why it’s being rolled out now when the park has evidently been out of compliance with federal regulations with no apparent issues for a long time.
“The reason why it came up is because I’ve been getting a variety of different requests for realigning the ice roads, for people who have different kinds of vehicles who come up and (ask) do we allow this kind of vehicle, and also the Mukooda Portage came up a couple of times,” DeGross said. “I regularly get requests for things that would be out of alignment with the Code of Federal Regulations, and my answer to them is no we really can’t do that. My goal for this is to try to accommodate as much of the reasonable recreational actions that we can while passing the requirement I have to assure that we are in alignment with the regulations.”
“Of all national parks,” one person called out. “Voyageurs National Park is a hell of a lot different than a lot of other national parks.”
“Codes can be changed,” another said. “Why can’t we set up a code that’s appropriate for this park for the way it’s used and the way it’s accessed. Why do you have to abide by a standard code everywhere when it can be modified by law?”
“Right now, we’re just having this conversation, and based on the feedback that we get that will help us determine the path forward,” DeGross responded. “Right now, I don’t think there is support in the agency as a whole to consider a change to the regulation.”
But participants asserted that they believe it is DeGross’s responsibility to advocate for changes for his park.
“You’re the one who can drive that. This is a unique park,” one said.
“You have to speak for us. You are the driving force. Everybody here is coming to you saying what are you going to do for us?” another said.
DeGross didn’t disagree, but noted he has limitations.
“In this process, I am not the final decider in what the final outcome is,” he said, indicating in a later comment that NPS Regional Director Bert Frost would have to sign off on VNP’s plan.
Another concern raised was about the impact vehicle restrictions could have on people with disabilities accessing the frozen lake surface for recreational activities.
One commenter suggested people should be allowed to get a special permit for vehicles to accommodate people with special needs.
That led to a question about the proposed fees for access, and DeGross said nothing had been decided about that yet. If fees would be assessed, the money would be used to help with the costs of maintaining the ice roads.
Another point of contention had to do with the occupancy requirement for ice houses in the low use zone.
“I don’t understand why you can’t have a fish house out overnight just because you’re in a low use zone. State regulation says you can,” someone said.
DeGross indicated that numerous people seemed to think that was a “silly” requirement and encouraged people to submit their written comments about it.
The state Department of Natural Resources was represented at the meeting by DNR Northeastern Region Director Shelly Patton, who spoke to the need for a collaborative discussion with park officials given jurisdictional issues impacting the park.
“The state of Minnesota, we’ve got a state statue that says the waters of Voyageurs National Park are under the state’s jurisdiction, and also that we did not cede the waters of the state to Voyageurs National Park. What we need to do is to research and analyze the federal regulations and state statutes and see how they intersect,” Patton said. “I want to let you know we’re committed to researching this. We plan to provide our written comments. It’s a very important issue. In Minnesota, surface water use is also under the jurisdiction of the counties. When there is unsafe ice or there’s navigational hazards out there, the county sheriff’s department, it’s their authority to mark those. We have three different entities here, county, state and federal.”
Others cited a history of broken promises from past park managers in explanation of the current skepticism about the plan.
“I hear what you’re saying about past management,” DeGross said. “I know that my commitment is to work through this process so that everyone has an idea of what is allowed and isn’t allowed.”
Numerous other issues and questions were raised in the public comment period that lasted just over an hour. A recurring theme for DeGross was emphasizing the importance of submitting written comments about concerns and recommendations, noting that the period for submitting comments has been extended to June 3. Comments can be submitted electronically at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/VOYA-frozen, or via U.S. Mail to Frozen Lake Surface Access and Use Plan, Voyageurs National Park, 360 Hwy 11 East, International Falls, MN 56649.