Judge rejects full environmental study of North Shore ATV trail

ST. PAUL (AP) -- A planned ATV trail in northeastern Minnesota can go forward without additional environmental study, a Lake County district judge has ruled.

Most of the nearly 35 miles of Moosewalk/Mooserun trail have been used for years by snowmobiles and, informally, by all-terrain vehicles.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources proposed to designate it an official ATV trail, including 6.6 miles of the North Shore state trail near Finland where ATV use is now prohibited.

Minnesotans for Responsible Recreation, a Duluth-based environmental group, argued that the DNR should conduct a comprehensive study of how ATVs might affect trout streams, wetlands, wildlife, air quality, noise levels and other recreational users.

Judge Kenneth Sandvik ruled that the DNR identified the environmental issues and ways to deal with them in an earlier study.