ATV/UTV trails to open soon in the Pelican River Forest

WXPR | By Katie Thoresen Published May 27, 2024 at 5:33 AM CDT

https://www.wxpr.org/outdoors-leisure-and-sports/2024-05-27/atv-utv-trails-to-open-soon-in-the-pelican-river-forest

As we walk down a logging road in the Pelican River Forest, Gary Dominski reflects on what it took to get to this moment.

He’s the President of the Pel-Cho Mudd Nutz ATV/UTV Club.

“We founded the club in 2014 with the intent of creating a recreational hub in Monico, and the opportunity to do that centered around this property,” said Dominski.

Dominski said efforts to work with the previous landowners didn’t get the group very far, but progress was made after Dominski learned the land had been bought by The Conservation Fund.

“Our goal initially, quite frankly, was obviously access to the property and have ATV/UTV trails all the way up to Three Lakes. Whether we'll ever get that to fruition, I don't know. There's geographically hurdles to overcome. But I know we are looking at continuing to develop additional trails now north of Pelican or Highway 8 because of the easement finally coming into fruition,” said Dominski.

Starting June 1st an ATV trail on the Pelican River Forest will open. It goes from the north end of Pelican Lake to Highway 8 near Monico.

“It's really what ATV/UTV riders want. They don't want to ride on the roads, they want to ride on trails, forest roads. I wasn't here in fall, the colors had to be spectacular, I would have expected and that's what it's all about is getting out in nature,” said Dominski. “It gives a great opportunity for somebody physically challenged or physically handicapped to get out and enjoy nature via the sport of ATV/UTV riding.”

A recently released report from the Wisconsin ATV Association found that ATV/UTV riders had a nearly $5.4 billion economic impact on the state in 2023.

Dominski hopes with these trails opening soon and more in the future, some of the economic impact will come to this portion of the Northwoods.

“I think what you got to look at is really the economic impact that the sport brings. Snowmobiling is not what it used to be. The winters aren't what it used to be. This is another avenue for local businesses to profit from and bring people to the area,” said Dominski.

You can view a trail map here. Dominski says there will be signage to direct riders.

Map: https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/a6/92/5acea178488fa99b82cea15885a7/prf-atv-utv-trail-map2.pdf

governor evers visits the pelican river forest

On Wednesday, May 22nd we had a small group of people who were active in the Pelican River Forest movement welcome Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers who joined us for a hike in the newly established largest land & water conservation project in Wisconsin's history.

It gave many of us an opportunity to personally thank the Governor for his efforts in bringing this project and The Conservation Easement guaranteeing life long public access to fruition, as well as extend our appreciation to The Conservation Fund for their acquisition of the property, and Gatherhing Waters for their unrelenting work as well.

Gary Dominski

President

Pel-Cho Mudd Nutz ATV/UTV Club

PELICAN RIVER FOREST CONSERVATION EASEMENT

To our dedicated membership,

I am pleased to report to you that the Pelican River Forest Conservation Easement is now official protecting over 70,000 total acres of forest land, rivers, streams and trails for public access and use. Please see Charlie Carlins email from Gathering Waters below for details as well as some links providing additional information.

I would like to extend my sincere thank you to all of you who have taken the time and effort to support the Pelican River Forest. Especially appreciative to those members and businesses that took the time to sign the on-line petitions supporting this project, and to the members who took the time to attend the myriad of town and county meetings to voice their support of the project.

Since the inception of the Pel-Cho Muddnuts ATV/UTV Club in Pelican Lake in 2014 it has been our goal to gain recreational public access to this tract of land, only to be hindered and blocked by the previous owner.

Thru working very early on with Jim Lemke of the DNR and then for the last 2 years with Clint Miller of The Conservation Fund and Charlie Carlin of Gathering Waters it is so rewarding to see all of this work as well as your efforts come to fruition. We always looked at this block of land as an excellent opportunity to create a hub for recreational ATV/UTV/Snowmobiling.

As we know, the Pelican Lake, Monico, Elcho the area is lacking in economic development, and it is hoped that the opening of this property to public use will also bring greater opportunity for growth and development within these communities especially in the area of quality lodging, and certainly an excellent opportunity for the Town of Monico Hopefully the town leaders also realize this and begin to capitalize on it.

In congratulating Clint Miller of The Conservation Fund on the successful culmination of this project his comment back to me was "OK, now lets get started work on identifying and developing the ATV/UTV trails."

While we do have some preliminary trails identified, it will require considerable time, work and effort to develop these into real, functionable and safe ATV/UTV trails. We still have a lot of work ahead of us!

Again, thank you to all who have supported this endeavor to date. Below is a big Thank you as well from The Conservation Fund and Gathering Waters.

Should anyone have any questions or comments, please let me know.

Gary Dominski

President

Pel-Cho Mudd Nutz ATV/UTV Club

715-777-5098

Friends of Pelican River Forest,

It's official, the Pelican River Forest has been protected. The last documents were filed this morning and the conservation easement is in place. Hooray!

If you haven't seen Gathering Waters' statement, it's posted here: https://knowlesnelson.org/success-for-pelican-river/

The Governor's press release is here: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WIGOV/bulletins/38693b8

Please take a second and thank the Governor for his support. It just takes a moment: https://knowlesnelson.org/take-action

Finally, I'm so pleased to pass along a huge THANK YOU from Clint, Bethany, and The Conservation Fund team. And our thanks should go right back to them for their persistence, patience, and incredible commitment to Wisconsin's land and water.

Time to celebrate!

Charles Carlin
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Gathering Waters: Wisconsin's Alliance for Land Trusts

(435) 669-8384