Continued from Front - Ice Age Trail corridor will not happen

Continued from Front

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.