ATVs will be allowed in Headwaters -- with restrictions

All-terrain vehicles will be allowed in the Mississippi Headwaters State Forest in northern Minnesota, but with restrictions, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources announced Thursday.

Although the restrictions presented Thursday are more restrictive than earlier proposals, it's doubtful the new plan will satisfy those who argued the forest there should be closed to all off-road driving, or those who argued for fewer ATV restrictions.

"It's a compromise. Everyone had to give up a little,'' said Mike Carroll, Department of Natural Resources northwest region director.

"This is just a complete farce,'' said Jerry Maertens, member of the Mississippi Headwaters Protection Alliance, which supports keeping public lands near the river free of off-road driving.

"They [the DNR] support canoeing [on the Upper Mississippi River] and then they stick the ATVs right next to it, which is absurd,'' he said.

ATV groups couldn't be reached for comment.

The decision came after the DNR received nearly 1,700 comments from the public during a 60-day period.

The contentious issue underscored the difficulty of balancing ATV use on millions of acres of public lands with protecting the state's natural resources.

The Mississippi Headwaters State Forest is a checkerboard of lands owned by the state and Beltrami, Clearwater and Hubbard counties -- which complicated the issue.

Under an order issued by DNR Commissioner Mark Holsten, DNR-managed state forest lands within the forest will be classified as "limited'' use to motorized vehicles. That means forest roads are open to all highway-licensed and off-highway vehicles, including ATVs. But forest trails are closed to all motorized uses, unless marked as open.

The classification does not affect the use of snowmobiles in the area.

Some of the plan's key elements:

• Almost 15,000 acres adjacent to the Mississippi River will be designated as an Area with Limitations, where the hunting and trapping exemptions for ATV use do not apply. Normally, deer hunters are allowed to use ATVs off trails to get to their stands or to retrieve downed deer. They won't be able to do that in this area.

• All motor vehicles in that Area with Limitations must use only designated and signed roads and trails on DNR and Hubbard County lands.

• About 3.8 miles of trails will be designated as hunter walking trails.

• A proposed ATV trail crossing of the Mississippi River at Coffee Pot Landing was removed.

• No new trail corridors will be created.

"The bottom line for us is we want to provide both motorized and nonmotorized opportunities,'' while protecting the Mississippi River, Carroll said,

The order takes effect Dec. 31, after signs are erected.

The order and maps of designated forest roads will be available on the DNR website at www.dnr.state.mn.us on Feb. 25.

Doug Smith • 612-673-7667