Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Rising from a secluded valley to the highest point in southern Wisconsin, Blue Mound State Park has long been popular with outdoors lovers and solitude seekers.
Cross country skiers, hikers and more recently mountain bikers have come to the 1,150-acre park for its variety of trails and unique geology. The ancient dolomite-capped mound tops out at 1,716 feet high and is visible from 40 miles away on a clear day.
But a new draft master plan amendment that calls for spending $180,000 on a gravel multi-use trail through the eastern section of the park, along with closing a challenging 4-mile single-track mountain bike route, is drawing fire on several fronts.
The most controversial component is the opening of a 1.4-mile snowmobile route, a move critics say would compromise the park’s silent sports tradition
“Once the bulldozers start knocking down trees to construct a snowmobile trail through the park there is no turning back,” says Karl Heil, former superintendent at Blue Mound State Park who played a key role in improving the skiing and mountain bike trails at the park.
Heil, who retired in 2011, says the proposed crushed limestone trail is a poor use of scarce resources at a time when the Legislature is ordering state parks to be financially self-sustaining.
While the new trail is billed as “multi-use,” Heil thinks it is clearly designed for one politically connected group of motor sports enthusiasts. The lobby does appear to have an ally in Department of Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp, an appointee of Gov. Scott Walker, whose bio notes she is an avid snowmobiler.
Heil notes that snowmobile trails in southern Wisconsin were open for just 35 days over the past three winters due to lack of snow cover. “It’s a lot of money and a lot of disruption for something that is only going to be used a few days a year,” he says.
The DNR initiated a review of all trails at Blue Mound following a 2014 request from area snowmobile clubs to facilitate a better connection from the north end of the park to the Military Ridge State Trail. Snowmobiles are allowed in state parks on a case-by-case basis, and advocates note a designated route crossed Blue Mound back in the 1980s.
“All we’re asking for is what we had before,” says Sam Landes, director of the Dane County chapter of the Association of Wisconsin Snowmobile Clubs.
Paul Zajackowski, director of state parks for southwestern Wisconsin, says the DNR is working to accommodate existing users while encouraging more people to check out the splash pool and visitor shelter added recently. The park counts about 175,000 visitors annually, and Zajackowski says there is room for more.
“You don’t want to love it to death, but it we would like to accommodate all kinds of recreational activities,” he says.
One misconception, Zajackowski says, is that snowmobiles would be allowed access to the main trails in the park and the shelter building, which was built in part with $600,000 in donations from silent sports users. Snowmobiles would use only one portion of a new multi-use gravel trail that would accommodate recreational bicyclists and walkers during the warmer seasons.
Many cross country skiers aren’t happy because the new snowmobile route would force relocation of a portion of the Pleasure Valley cross country trail out of the woods and into an open field. It would also introduce the sound and smell of motors into the park.
“There are so very few places to cross country ski and enjoy winter solitude,” says Nancy Wiegand of Madison. “Snowmobiles don't need pristine natural state park areas to enjoy their sport. They can't hear the birds anyway.”
Wisconsin has about 25,000 miles of designated snowmobile trails, most of them maintained by volunteers from the various clubs that work with private landowners on access issues. That compares to about 700 miles of public cross country ski trails in the state.
Wisconsin had 237,803 snowmobiles registered in 2014, second only to Minnesota, with 258,000.
To help cover the costs of fuel and equipment for grooming snowmobile trails, the clubs get a portion of the registration and trail fees collected by the DNR, along with some money from the state motor fuel tax. In 2013, the state delivered more than $7.6 million to the snowmobile clubs in the various counties.
But while parks admission stickers and overnight camping fees were increased in the past state budget, snowmobilers were granted a special reduced price on registration fees, with members of state-based snowmobile clubs getting a $20 savings off the standard $30 trail pass fee. The idea is to promote snowmobiling as an economic development effort.
Mountain bikers, meanwhile, are upset about DNR plans to close the Overlode Trail, a technical section of trail in the most secluded portion of the park. The trail is used by experienced mountain bike riders along with “fat tire” winter cyclists who use wider tires to negotiate snow cover.
That Overlode Trail was built eight years ago, in part with a $10,000 donation from outdoor retailer REI, according to Capitol Off Road Pathfinders, a group involved in mountain bike trail development in the Madison area.
The DNR has recommended closing the Overlode Trail to all users, including hikers, because of concerns about soil erosion and the impact on threatened plants and animals — most notably the native bat population, which is facing challenges due to white nose syndrome.
But Zajackowski says there is a possibility of a compromise on the Overlode Trail if the DNR can work with the mountain bike community to reduce the impact on flora and fauna. “Any trail there needs to be sustainable,” he says.
While the public comment period on the draft master plan closes Wednesday, Dec. 16, Zajackowski says there will be time for additional input before the final plan moves to the Natural Resources Board in early 2016. That panel must approve any changes to DNR policy.
Two years ago, a DNR proposal to allow hunting and trapping in all state parks including Blue Mound generated a firestorm of opposition from silent sports users and animal rights activists. The Natural Resources Board eventually rejected most of the parks hunting plan, which was included in the "Sporting Heritage Law" passed by the Legislature and signed by Walker in 2013.
The Friends of Blue Mound State Park, which has raised over $1 million in private funds for the park, has not taken a formal position on the new master plan. But it has heard loud and clear from many donors upset about the changes, including the expected noise and expense of the snowmobile corridor and the proposed closure of a large section of the Overlode Trail.
“The dialogue continues for all interested parties, and we are guardedly hopeful that the potential negative impacts to park visitors will be minimized,” the group said in a statement.
The new master plan is scheduled to go before the Natural Resources at its January meeting but could be delayed because of the number of issues raised by user groups, Zajackowski says.
