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Mission Statement
Recognizing the outstanding scenic, fishery,
wildlife and recreational qualities of the Snake River and its
Valley, the mission of the Friends of the Snake River is hereby
declared to be the oversight, protection and general stewardship of
these qualities in the watercourse, riparian environments and the
extended watershed of the River. We propose to meet these
goals through the collection of information, interactive education
and jointly conducted programs of challenge and support, pursued by
members in cooperation with relevant public agencies and other
citizen conservation groups.
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Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources
Forest
Classification and Off Highway Vehicle Road/Trail Designation
Schedule
for
the Snake River State Forest
On
May 4 in Grand Rapids the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
kicked off state forest classification and OHV roads and trails
designation for East Central Minnesota. The East Central Team
consists of the following DNR professional staff:
Keith Simar, Forestry, Co-Chair
Bob Moore, Trails and Waterways, Co-Chair
Tom Provost, Enforcement
Mike North, Ecological Services
David Kranz, Wildlife
This
team will be responsible for the following state forests: DAR, Hill,
Land O'Lakes, Savanna, Snake River and Waukenabo. The team will also
classify and plan OHV roads and trails on scattered forest lands in
these counties: southern Cass, Aitkin, Kanabec and Pine.
The
planning process for the classification review and road/trail
designation is expected to take about 15 months to conduct.
The status
of the process can be monitored on the DNR website. DNR will
notify interested parties of public meeting dates about
mid-June. The process has 3 phases:
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Phase
1: Orientation (2-3 months). Evaluation-Field team
reviews the completed forest access route inventory.
Public is invited to assist in this process by identifying
mapping or data collections gaps, and by describing current use
patterns. About 4 or 5 public meetings are included
in this phase.
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Phase
2: Draft Proposals (4-6 months). Draft Proposal
Phase--Issue draft forest reclassification and road/trail
designation proposals using Phase 1 input and analysis.
Public process steps: Trail proposals and forest classification
changes officially noticed and made available for 60 day public
review prior to required public meeting.
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Phase
3: Final Plans & Proposals (1-2 months). Field team
develops final recommendation, planner prepares summary on
changes to plan following public meeting and comment and
prepares response to comments, completed plans subjected to
final review and proposal by Commissioner, final documents made
available to the public.
Updated
information from DNR will be posted here as we receive it.
*****
June
25, 2007: We received the following e-mail from Bill Johnson,
Planner, Minnesota DNR Division of Trails and Waterways:
"Good afternoon Dr. Waters and Mr. Mortenson. This message is a courtesy update for you on the planning for the East Central Forests, including the Snake River State Forest.
Open Houses. We are scheduling our open houses this week. At this time five meetings are being planned across the planning unit. The meeting focused principally on Snake River will be held in Mora on Thursday, August 23 from 6-8:30 PM. Other open houses will be held in Pillager (8/21), Emily (8/22), Hill City(8/28), and McGregor (8/29).
We are looking to use the high school cafeteria for the Mora open house. Please recall these open houses are to allow the public to see the route inventory and engage the DNR team and other area staff. DNR will be soliciting input on forest classification, current and future public access patterns, and the accuracy of the route inventory.
Team Status. The East Central Team is now up and running. It is appropriate for them to meet with interested groups at this stage of the process. This can occur at the open house, site visits, or at your own meeting. If Friends of the Snake River (or its representatives) wishes meet with the team, arrangements should be made with the Team Co-Chairs. Please contact Keith Simar (218-8333-8703) or Bob Moore (218-999-7923) at your convenience.
Thank you for your interest in the process."
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