Important Information regarding state funding of state trails.

Published 13 December 04 03:39 AM

The ball continues to roll on the reduction of funding for our state trails. You can keep yourself up to date on the issues by coming to our web site at http://www.xcskiwinn.org where the latest information will always be available.

There is some good news on the budget front already. After testimony from  Waldo Peterson of the (Friends of State Parks) George Meyer (former DNR Chief) myself, and others, the Natural Resource's Board (NRB) listened and voted to "restore" 3.9 positions for the McKenzie Environmental Center, and one position for the Chippewa Moraine Center both of which are important to Parks and Trails.

 
 The bad news is that the NRB included the 8.25 FTE (full time time employees) cut for trails. The NRB has essentially recommended that the Wisconsin get out of the trail business by spinning off state trails to counties and municipalities. This opens the door to alternative trail use which will directly effect hiking, biking and snowmobiliing, equistrian and possible disabled. Also, there will no longer be a cohesive long term plans that allow our trails to connect with towns, natural features, parks and other trails.
 
I've talked and corresponded with almost all STC members and we are in agreement on getting our message across to state government decision makers. We will follow the action plan that was forwarded to you last week.  The proposed DNR budget is now forwarded to Department of Administration (DOA)and the Governor's office, where it is reviewed before it is sent to the legislature for approval in early February.
 
Our approach is to engage the user groups we represent, local chamber of commerce's, small businesses, and others. Each of you must contact your user groups and seek grass roots support for our Trails. We need them to directly communicate with the DOA and Governor's office explaining why State Trails are important. Use this link to get contact information including names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses http://www.wisconsin.gov/state/core/government.html 
 
The message we need to communicate is threefold:
  1. The economic impact to small businesses that are located along state trails. 
  2. The need to have cohesive management to protect traditional users and ensure trail connectivity.
  3. The personal impact of losing trails; ie, lost recreational opportunity, exercise & health, etc This message should be personal in nature.

It's time to mobilize to get our message across. There is no doubt if trail users understand the consequences of these cuts and it is communicated to the DOA and Governor's office, these FTEs will be restored. But it is up to all of us.

by panmanphil
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Comments

# panmanphil said on December 20, 2004 6:07 PM:
I hope that you do keep funding for 8.25 employees for state park trail maintnance. I feel that it's important to keep this under the state's umbrella, to provide a long term cohesive plan for these trails.

Should you decide to let this work fall under the various counties and municipalities, I fear that this would lead to the degredation of the systems. Wisconsin tourism would suffer, along with local businesses. These trails provide recreation for people of all ages. I have been a long term user of many of the bike and ski trails in the state over 30 years, and have seen the pleasure and economic vitality it provides to small town communities.

Please reconsider reinstating these positions, to ensure that other generations can continue to enjoy these unique and wonderful outdoor places.



# panmanphil said on December 21, 2004 1:26 PM:
Your comments are good. You should send them to somebody in the Department of Administration, the Governor's office or to your representatives to have the most affect.

I can say from experience that letting responsibilities fall to local authorities is a REALLY mixed bag. Local government is already under heavy stress and in my area of Green Bay, that would probably be paramount to a complete cut.

Thanks for the comments, and follow up with some letter writing if you can.
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