Oscoda County Public Hearing

[North Star]

Per the Oscoda County Recreational Riders association a public hearing is scheduled for Thursday November 6th at 7pm at the Mio Community Center.

They are asking for letters, letters, letters to be sent. I have samples for anyone interested. Please e-mail me. They are looking at opening up 10 "links" not the whole county at this point. From reading the sample letters that I received from Bob who heads up the OCRR, I guess the USFS has concerns about some of these links. I do have the details on these links as well as a map. Again please e-mail me if you would like a copy.

The letters are to be addressed to:

Steve Goldman
District Ranger, Mio Ranger Station
Huron-Manistee National Forest
107 McKinley Rd.
Mio, MI 48647

Oscoda County Board of Commissioners
311 Morenci Street
P.O. Box 399
County Courthouse
Mio, MI 48647

It is recommended that the letters be received by the above 2 agencies before Nov 4.

Thanks for your support!
Karen

 

[KTM Mike]

Karen

Could you send me any more detailed info - the maps would be helpful. I will PM you my snail mail address if you need to send it that way, or my email addy as well. I am specifically interested in seeing what is proposed to be opened up in northern Oscoda County - near the Hunt Creek loop. Just this past summer, I have had 2 instances of bike troubles while on the Hunt Creek loop, in Oscoda county - and no legal means for un-plated bikes to short cut back to where we could get to our vehicle, tools etc. Hopefully the focus of the proposed "links" is not all around Mio/Bull Gap etc.

 

[North Star]

Mike I did send you everything this morning and I'll post here, briefly what some of the recommendations are. These are just the "purpose" of the proposed link. The document I received from OCRRA is very detailed and 5 pages long.

MC-14: (7.5 miles utilizing existing County Road R.O.W.)

Purpose: To create an ORV north-south link from the Mio/Hunt Creek loop through the Horseshoe and Perry Lake vicinity to Smith Lake and Kneeland Rd. Providing access to equipment services at Northern Power Sports, and food/fuel at BP on M-72.

MC-12: (9.5 miles utilizing existing County Road R.O.W.)

Purpose: To create an ORV link from McKinley to MC - 14 including the existing trailhead in Section 20 - Comins Township - along M-72, and a link from Comins along Boiling Springs Road to connect to the Mio/Hunt Creek Loop. Providing access to food/fuel.

MC-20: (4 miles utilizing existing County Road R.O.W.)

Purpose: To create an ORV east-west link from Oscoda
County to Alcona County

The 3 listed above focus entirely on the north trails. The recommendations then concentrate on The Meadows to the west and finally on Bull Gap and the town of Mio.

Hope this helps,
Karen

 

[silver]

I see there is nothing proposed to link Fairview into any of this.Or at least there is nothing in what you posted.If there isn't there needs to be some kind of route made .Or better yet just make all county roads rideable.

 

[KTM Mike]

northstar - thanks for the reply to my PM. I do recall a few years ago that in general there was a lot of opposition to opening up roads in Oscoda county - so I understand why it is actually a pretty limited proposal. Is there any chance to widen what is already proposed?

Silver makes a valid point, the BP is not quite close enough to Fairview for trail access from that area. Also, I really think some "cut off routes" on the Hunt Creek and Mio loops would be good - some way to short cut it back to a truck you might have parked near some spot where the trail crosses the road, in case of bike troubles etc. These would not follow the "access to food, fuel or lodging" approach, but are just as valid of a need. Just a few roads, that might box around and cross those trails in a few spots would be a great addition.

Regardless - any roads open are better than none! Thanks for your efforts.