Ice Age Trail corridor will not happen, without support

By Ginna Young

Feelings are mixed, on whether or not a 2,200-acre parcel should be acquired to provide a new corridor for the Ice Age Scenic Trail. Some are for the purchase, believing that it will only bring opportunities to the area surrounding Cornell, while others are opposed to the idea.

The matter was discussed at a public information session, Feb. 25, where the details were hashed out. The Ice Age Trail traces the most recent glacial trail, leaving a twisting, turning route of beauty.

“One of the great things is, you don’t need a whole lot of tools…it’s widely accessible,” said Kevin Thusius, senior director of land conservation with the Ice Age Trail Alliance.

The corridor planning process has taken about a decade to complete by various interested entities.

“Their process was laborious, to say the least,” said Thusius.

Through that long process, a determination was made that the best opportunity will be from Cornell, to the Taylor County line. The alliance and its partners, want to close the gaps of missing trail corridors.

“We know this process will take decades more,” said Thusius. “It took a long time for the glaciers to be put this on the land, it will take a long time for us to connect them.”

In order to extend the trail corridors, they must acquire land from owners, whether through purchase of parcels, donation of the property or an easement, allowing access.

“We only work with willing sellers,” said Thusius. Known as the southern corridor, the proposal for the expansion near Cornell, is overseen by Chippewa County forest administrator Matt Hansen, who collaborated with the Ice Age Trail Alliance, as well as the scenic trail partners. The trail exists across a lot of public lands around the state. However, it’s a hope for the southern corridor to connect on land, as opposed to roadway routes. That’s where the large parcel in the Towns of Estella and Arthur, owned by Ted Strzok, comes in. Strzok conceded that he is willing to consider a sale of his entire property, but doesn’t like the idea of an easement. On the parcel, is an extensive logging road network, but no town-owned roads, as well as several small lakes/water bodies, a couple creek frontages and about 200 acres of agricultural land.

“If the project were to succeed, we would exclude agricultural areas from the property,” said Hansen. “Converting them back to forestry is not our intent or the best use of the land.”

The land was originally merged from seven properties that Strzok purchased, to create a haven to live in. That’s why it was a surprise to Hansen that Strzok is willing to negotiate a sale.

“He realized the value of the tourism draw this property could have to this community,” said Hansen.

The tax implications of such an acquisition, would be about $30,000 taken off the tax roll. It seems like a large amount to make up, but Hansen feels that by managing timber, as part of his day job, those revenues produce more, along with state aids to public land ownership, than outright taxing to private lands.

Hansen directs 12 percent of timber sales to the townships, based on the percentage of county forest within their township. There is a small amount of county forest in the Town of Estella, but none within the Town of Arthur or the City of Cornell.

Previously, Hansen believed that residents of the neighboring municipalities would see an increase in taxes of $44, per $1,000 of assessed land. But, Hansen may have been misinformed and the actual tax implications would be $5 the first year, per $1,000 of property, with the amount of $1.58 the following years.

“It’s a lot less than the initial values that I started giving the presentations with, because I have no idea how they do the school formula,” said Hansen.

Hansen can’t give the exact number for financial impact, but feels that the new corridor will bring in more tourism, which, in turn, will lead to more businesses, bringing in more families moving to the area, requiring more housing and opportunities.

JoAnn Parks, an avid Ice Age Trail enthusiast, can vouch that she’s seen the economic impact tourism brings to the area, from those traversing the trail.

Acquisition of the property also opens it up for public cross country skiing, hunting, trapping, fishing or any other outdoor activity that’s deemed appropriate by the state. There would be no federal control over the parcel, only local say, except for the 300-foot wide corridor itself.

Hansen does not have the final total of what the purchase price of the property would be, as the state and federal governments will need to appraise the property themselves, which will be what the price of the land is based upon. Because the property is so large, county, state and federal money will need to be tapped into, meaning Hansen has to apply for grants.

That also means he needs support from the local boards and citizens. While many private citizens are in support of the project, as well as the Cornell School Board, the City of Cornell and Town of Estella have already taken stances in non-support of the project.

The reason for some, is that they do not like the county adding more public land to their control, taking it away from the taxpayers. Some also feel the project has gone beyond what it was meant to be, when first drafted.

If the corridor plan fails, for lack of support by the local boards, the alliance will continue to work toward establishing the expansion, but instead of “instant trail” across Strzok’s land, they will need about 30 easements, skirting around Cornell, and likely taking the tourism impact with it.

“I imagine there will just be a large hole there for a long time,” said Hansen.