State Line ORV trail extended to Wakefield

By TOM LAVENTURE

tlaventure@mac.com

Wakefield TOWNSHIP - A 20-year effort to dedicate a State Line "SL" ORV Trail segment in Wakefield Township, culminated with a dedication ceremony on Wednesday.

Members of the Michigan Trails and Recreation Alliance of Land and Environment, the Gogebic Range Trail Authority, the North Country Snowmobile Club, private landowners and city officials joined the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in opening a 38-foot bridge and three-mile trail segment.

"When I think of this trail, I think of all of the partnerships, all of the communities, townships and people that have been involved in making this happen," said Jeff Kakuk, the western Upper Peninsula trail specialist for the Michigan DNR. "This trail is important because of the huge economic impact that this motorized traffic brings, both ORV/UTV and snowmobile."

The state line trail starts in Hermansville and runs west to Florence, Wisconsin, then northeast into Michigan, paralleling the border to provide trail connectivity through Crystal Falls, Iron River, Marenisco and now to Wakefield, he said. This segment, including a bridge and two box culverts cost nearly $800,000, while the overall trail work from Marenisco to Wakefield Township was an investment of more than $1 million.

This particular trail was designed to meet standards for emergency vehicles and snow groomers, Kakuk said.

GRTA President Steve Hamilton said the real motivation for the trail dates back to the 1990s with the efforts of Wakefield Township to find an alternate route to eliminate the Michigan Department of Transportation right-of-way for ORV road route on U.S. 2 between Korpela and Samson roads. In addition to the safety issue, the segment extends the state line route from Marenisco to Wakefield.

The DNR acquired the abandoned rail grade in the 1990s and waited for local clubs and municipalities to start development efforts. MI-TRALE included the project with its efforts to build and maintain around 550 miles of trails in the five counties of the western U.P.

The GRTA got involved around 2016 when its nonprofit status made it eligible to administer DNR trail permit funds. The GRTA sought letters of support from cities and townships and pursued easement approvals from the private landowners along the trail in support of the project.

The first hurdle was to get the project cost included in the 2020 state budget. The DNR dedicated $250,000 from its own trail funds budget with the $450,000 request from the Michigan Legislature. 

GRTA worked with Sen. Edward McBroom, R-Vulcan, who championed the project to be included in the budget that was approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, he said. The COVID-19 pandemic froze the funding for a year but the project was able to proceed and be completed over the summer. 

"It was a pretty cool thing to see at a pretty partisan time, all of these motorized and non-motorized projects all getting the blessing," Hamilton said.

Linda Schulz, a MI-TRALE member from Ontonagon County, said MI-TRALE started on the project until GRTA formed and became a nonprofit organization. There are three trail groups that tend to 550 miles of western U.P. trail systems that include 300 miles of DNR state line trails, she said.

"We kept putting in the culverts and completed the other projects," Schulz said. "They (GRTA) got this completed and hooked our whole trail system up to the rest of Western U.P. So, this is a tremendous, tremendous trail."

Dave North, a landowner who provided an easement, said the trail enhances his property and he will also use it regularly.

"I support it. I love having this trail here. Absolutely," he said. "This trail is awesome."

Karen Gullan, GRTA secretary and Ironwood city clerk, said the work now continues to complete the route all the way through to Hurley. The trail exists in an unofficial capacity and the administrative work for the designation will be submitted to the DNR this year.

"It's already received a snowmobile designation and once it is officially designated for ORV, the trail can officially go to Hurley," Gullan said.

The designation as a state line trail will include the route on official state ORV maps and marketing, she said. The GRTA will also receive DNR funds to maintain state line trails, she said.

The project proposal with city and township letters of support will be sent to the DNR in six to eight weeks for a possible designation by midwinter 2022, Hamilton said. There are some land owner permissions for an easement in Bessemer to work out and an estimated $300,000 repair cost for the Montreal River bridge, he said.

"We need both pots of ORV and snowmobile funds to pull that off," he said. "We've done all the engineering on it and that's been funded and paid for and now we just need to get the construction funding."

On the eastern side, a few miles of snowmobile trail will be constructed to increase connectivity to the south side of Lake Gogebic and Marenisco, he said.

The Wakefield Township trail segment will add to the momentum for completing the route to Wisconsin, he said. He said it's in everybody's interest if just in terms of economic impact.