MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The Department of Natural Resources’ board on Wednesday approved a new snowmobile trail in a southern Wisconsin state park for the second time, after an open meetings dispute raised questions about the first vote.
DNR officials proposed rerouting an existing snowmobile trail in Blue Mounds State Park to make the path safer and wider to accommodate two-way nighttime use. The board approved the plan last January despite fierce opposition from cross-country skiers and nature lovers.
The park’s former superintendent, Karl Heil, and Ken Wade, who owns property near the park, filed a complaint with Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne in September alleging that board members and DNR staff discussed the trail during a dinner the night before the vote. The complaint alleged that DNR staff lobbied and polled board members on their support for the trail, resulting in an illegal walking quorum.
DNR chief attorney Quinn Williams wrote to Ozanne in November denying the dinner qualified as a meeting. Still, agency officials decided to scrap the board’s pre-meeting dinner tradition and promised to revisit the trail issue in the interest of transparency.
Two days after Williams wrote to Ozanne, Heil and Wade filed two lawsuits, one alleging an open meetings violation and the other alleging the agency and the board’s decision to reroute the trail was an abuse of discretion and should be reversed.
Both lawsuits are pending, but the board voted unanimously Wednesday to reconsider its 2016 decision. Williams began the discussion by stating that the agency and board were trying to be transparent but hadn’t acknowledged any wrongdoing. Heil and Wade’s attorney, Christa Westerberg, sat in the audience taking notes.
Skiers and others spent more than three hours trying to persuade the board to scrap the plan, saying it would destroy wildlife habitat and that snowmobiles make too much noise and would put skiers and children in danger.
DNR officials insisted safety is their top priority and lack of snow typically limits snowmobilers to 15 days of use annually. The board ultimately voted 6-1 to move ahead with the changes, just as they did in 2016. Board member Gregory Kazmierski said the new trail won’t vary substantially from the existing footprint.
“Our role is to accommodate as many people as we can,” he said. “It’s not as big a deal as it’s made out to be.”
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