Comment process ends for county trails plan

The Crow Wing County Land Services Department completed the public comment process for the draft comprehensive trails plan that was prepared at the end of Year One of a two-year trail planning project. 

The Response to Comments document and revised plan are available from the county and at the project webpage.

The draft plan was presented and made available to the public in December 2010. The public comment period remained open through Jan. 21. During the comment period the draft plan was downloaded from the project webpage 183 times and printed copies of the plan were also available to the public. A total of 17 individuals provided comments on the draft plan.

“We appreciate the time and effort Crow Wing County residents put into the planning process, and we are committed to responsibly managing public lands for diverse uses, including forest management, recreation and other public benefits,” said Kirk Titus, Land Services supervisor, in a news release.

 The public comments received on the draft plan included support for the process and recommendations in the plan and suggestions for additions, as well as concerns expressed about the future of recreation trail opportunities on county lands.

“The comments demonstrate the importance of continuing to make information about land management activities available to the public and the benefits of providing opportunities for feedback and input into the planning process,” said Katie Fernholz, project coordinator.

The Crow Wing County Land Services Department is responsible for the management of 103,000 acres of tax-forfeited lands in the county. These lands are distributed throughout the county and the management practices used by the county have been certified as meeting the standards of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and the Forest Stewardship Council. The County has completed a review of High Conservation Value Forests as required by the FSC standards.

Consistent with the goals of the Crow Wing County Comprehensive Plan to provide “diverse recreational opportunities,” the lands managed by the county offer existing recreation trail opportunities, including hiking, biking, snowmobiling, cross country skiing, off-highway motorcycle, all-terrain vehicle, equestrian trails, canoe routes and other forms of recreation. The comprehensive trails planning project addresses priorities for the management of diverse recreation trails and trail opportunities on the lands managed by the Crow Wing County Land Services Department’s Public Land Management office.

The comments received on the plan have been summarized and the response to comments document is available from the county and at the project webpage. 

For more information, go online to http://dovetailinc.org/content/crow-wing-county-recreation. The direct link to download the Response to Comments document is: http://dovetailinc.org/files/CWCPlanPublicCommentSummary022411.pdf and the direct link to the revised plan is http://dovetailinc.org/files/CWCCompRecTrailsPlan022411.pdf.’