Meetings scheduled on managment plan

BACKUS - The Cass County Land Department will host public meetings to present changes to the 2003 Cass County Long Range Resource Management Plan. The plan gives direction for managing 254,000 acres of county administered tax-forfeited land.

Meetings will be 7 p.m. on March 16 at the land department building in Backus and on March 23 at the courthouse in Walker. Comments can be offered at the meetings or by mail to P.O. Box 25, Backus, MN 56435, or by e-mail to josh.stevenson@co.cass.mn.us

Copies of the proposed plan are available at the land department office in Backus and on the county Web site: www.co.cass.mn.us.

Land Commissioner Josh Stevenson told the county board Tuesday he has received several complaints concerning the fact the county has been unable to keep up with grooming cross-country ski trails this winter.

Cass receives only $4,500 from state ski permit funds. This barely covers gasoline to run groomers, he said. Land department staff cuts this year have meant remaining employees do not have time to work on trails.

Two people have volunteered their time, but more individual volunteers or a ski club group will be needed to keep trails well groomed, Stevenson said. Volunteer applications are available on the county Web site and from the land department office in Backus.

The county ski trails include the Hiram, Goose Lake, Washburn Lake and Cut Lake trails.

Snowmobile clubs provide volunteer time to groom snowmobile trails in the county. State aid, funneled through the county land department, helps pay for their operations.