The prospect of ATVs being allowed in Vilas County has always been compared to the mythical traveling salesman getting his foot in a housewife's door. Now, it appears that the "foot" of the ATV lobby may have achieved just that, and established itself a foothold into the Northwoods.
On March 12th, the Lac du Flambeau town board voted to allow ATV traffic on selected town roads. (The not-very-well-written article in the local paper did not specify how many town roads or how many miles will be affected.)
The stated goal of allowing ATVs on Lac du Flambeau's local roads is to "offer more tourism activities, more recreational activities, and more oppportunities for our business people."
The proposal approved that evening also gave the town board authority to add or delete roads for ATV usage without soliciting input from citizens. Reading between the lines, I deduced that once these first routes are opened, others may be added at will, just by the vote of the board.
This week, the next very issue of the same newspaper has a headline that reads, "Woodruff takes tentative look at ATV route through town." Talk about that foot in the door! It apparently took less than a week before the ATV issue was brought up in surrounding towns, following the success in Flambeau. The article states that the local ATV club would take care of everything, and "the only thing the town would have to do is approve the route."
So, just FYI. It seems there has been little publicity about these two decisions, and it makes me wonder if the ATV issue will be brought before the Vilas County Board again soon, also.
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