Don't panic over snowmobile trails
There has always been a question as to the disposition of the railroad grade, but no one has known how to pursue the issue. The Mauler case which started back in the mid-1990s brought many applicable laws, Acts of Congress, and other relevant court decisions to everyone's attention. The result of these discoveries is the strong possibility that the grade is public property. The letters of last week referred to "legitimate landowners" and "clear titles.? Obviously these quit-claim deeds aren't clear or this wouldn't be an issue.
Many references were made to the amount of money which may be spent in future court cases about the ownership of the grade. Over $100,000 has already been spent in this regard. Stated very simply, the result of this expenditure is the discovery that the grade is public property. Part of the money already spent was at the United States Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case, resulting in the solidification of the Federal Appeals Court decision. Now the people who are affected by this discovery are threatening to take Bayfield County to court to get this decision reversed. Who is actually causing this money to be spent?
The letters expressed concern about the amount of money it might cost to construct and maintain these potential trails. I assure you the money for these costs for any snowmobile or ATV trail within Bayfield County comes from the users through registration fees, gas taxes, and donations. This has been true for many years and will continue to be the case in the future. This present situation is no different.
Let me add I am not aware of anyone who has expressed an interest in the section of grade between Washburn and Bayfield so it is extremely unlikely this section will be utilized. Actually at this point it is impossible to say how any section of grade will be utilized. There are many things that have to be worked out before such determinations are made. There has been much discussion about cooperating with the adjoining landowners to route potential trails away from people's homes and other ways to make this as workable and unobtrusive as possible. Of course this will depend on a multitude of factors that haven't been determined yet.
One letter argues that the County is trying to expand the trail system. The snowmobile trail that traverses the area from Cable to Washburn would be shortened by approximately 15 miles due to the elimination of multiple detours. This doesn't strike me as an expansion. Many of these detours are on town roads, which is less than ideal and sometimes dangerous.
The Tourism Committee has worked hard on this issue. They have invested an incredible amount of time and effort along with many other people devoted to safe trail systems. Give them a little credit and don't buy into this negative publicity campaign.
Bob Lang of Cable is the trail committee chairman of the Bayfield County Snowmobile Alliance.