Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
SHOWN IS a proposed state-funded motorized trail loop in Ironwood that would be built and maintained by the Gogebic Range Trail Authority.
By TOM LAVENTURE
Ironwood - The Ironwood Parks and Recreation Committee on Monday approved a resolution to support an organization's efforts to extend the western Upper Peninsula's state-funded motorized trail system to include a loop in Ironwood.
The 6-0 approval serves as a recommendation to the Ironwood City Commission to designate off-road motorized trail routes for all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles within the city in support of the Gogebic Range Trail Authority permit application to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
The project would incorporate trails created by the now dissolved Western Upper Peninsula Trail Association into the trail authority's properties, said Steve Hamilton, president of the Gogebic Range Trail Authority. This would provide DNR recognition of an all-year trail for snowmobiles and off-road vehicles and eventually complete the trail link from Escanaba to Hurley, Wisconsin.
"Ironwood has a tremendous amount of unique and beautiful tourist attractions that really improve the snowmobiler experience riding in Ironwood," Hamilton said. "This trail loop will help us provide a more dynamic experience for riders."
There are two things that snowmobilers and off-road vehicle riders look for on trail maps and that is for new trails and looped trails, he said.
Ironwood and Hurley have a prolific rental machine business for novice riders who are looking to experience snowmobiling, according to Hamilton, and the completed state trail should only help the industry.
The phased project would require around two years of work and, if approved, could start this fall with the Ironwood loop, he said. The annual agreement with Ironwood would not require city matching funds or other obligations.
"With a resolution we can request to become a state funded trail," Hamilton said.
If approved by the DNR, the trail would receive summertime program funds to maintain the Ironwood trail. The motorized user group funds come from trail permit sales and the trail authority would use the funds to maintain the trails, along with donations, grants, in-kind contributions, volunteer labor and other fundraising.
The new Ironwood loop starts north of the city at Steven's Place Road and travels south along May Street and crosses at the current motorized trail on the east side of the bus garage, around the football field, then west around the Aurora Loop in Miners Heritage Memorial Park. From there the trail leads up Frenchtown Road to the Aurora Club property, then past Globe-Ruppe Concrete and Supply, then along Houk Street and Norrie Road near the Little League baseball field with a short loop along Burma Road to the Hiawatha monument, before the loop turns back north through Miners Heritage Memorial Park to the north side of the landfill and back toward Frenchtown Road.
The trail runs by popular visitor attractions and provides trail access for area vacation rental properties, Hamilton said. The less time snowmobilers spend on roads trying to reach trails the better the experience, and this trail takes rider experience to the next level, he said.
The city resolution request follows approval from the Friends of Miners Memorial Heritage Park and the next approval request will be with the Ironwood Area Schools, he said.
"We want to be good neighbors and we feel we've done that," Hamilton said. "We don't want to try and push a trail through and apologize later."
Board members Jeff Behrendt and Leslie Hein personally went to homes along the route to collect support signatures, and trail authority trustee Karen Gullan is working with property owners along the route to update land-use agreements that would allow for summertime use of off-road vehicles.
"Those guys have done a ton of work," Hamilton said.
Parks and Recreation Committee members questioned Hamilton regarding DNR requirements ranging from easements to land conservation and erosion control permits to the public hearing process. He said the DNR doesn't always approve trails but that it has been working on this project for two years and understands the capacity of the trail authority to carry out the program.
The DNT approved a 2019 trail authority request to build a trail from Ramsay Crossing to Blackjack, he said.
"Having that (Ironwood) loop is critical for us to get DNR approval," Hamilton said.
The second phase would be the Southern Beltline Motorized Expansion project.
The next parks and recreation committee meeting will be 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2 via Zoom.
