Hidden Bear Trail ATV Club Newsletter #2, 2020
CLUB MEETING, CLUB RIDE AND CLUB PICNIC: Our 2nd and last membership meeting of 2020 was held on Saturday September 26th, 2020 at the School House Bar & Grill in Mountain. Sanitizer and masks were furnished by the club. We had a total of 45 people in attendance. Once the meeting adjourned we left on our club ride over to the end-of-the year Poker Book event sponsored by Dusty Trails ATV Club and Crooked Trails ATV Club. The weather was beautiful, the colors were at their peek and we just got back to the School House Bar & Grill before the rain came. We had 20 total machines and 28 people on the ride. Once back at the School House the day continued with the club annual picnic outside.
2020 CLUB TRAIL MAINTENANCE: This year the club installed 17 new water bars (the funny looking things on the trail that are made of hard belting material that you run over), the water bars divert the water off the trail to decrease erosion on hills that cause washouts on the trail, the cub also repaired 2 areas on the end of County F ditch line (next year we will be repairing the entire ditch line along county F). The club also repaired 2 large water holes north of Island Lake Road and covered some rocks that were starting to get to high, this was on the trail south of Island Lake Road. We also repaired 5 different locations on the ATV Trail between Traxel Point Road and Old Greve Road in the Boulder Lake Area.
LANGLADE BRIDGE UPDATE: Our club continues to work on this project. We have gotten some good news recently including an amendment to the original new recreation bridge that was approved in August 2018 from the Governor’s Snowmobile Council. The Snowmobile Council at their September 21st, 2020 Grant Funding Meeting held in Wausau approved an amendment to the original grant that they would pay for a new recreational bridge at 100%. The original 2018 grant was that the Snow Council and the ORV (off-road-vehicle/ATV/UTV) council would split the cost 50-50. Because we are having a problem finding an ATV trail to the new bridge location, it was decided the snowmobile council would pay for the bridge at 100%. This should get the bridge built sooner because the snowmobile clubs already have a trail to and from the new bridge location. The other good news regarding this project is the changes that were made this spring in the Langlade County Government Officials. The County Board Chair and Vice Chair were replaced with new members and the Langlade Park & Forestry Committee was replaced with members that are very supportive of a new recreational bridge and getting an ATV Trail to the new bridge.
GOVERNOR’S SNOWMOBILE AND ORV COUNCIL: Would like to take a little time in explaining how we get new ATV/UTV trails, how we get $$$ to maintain trails and new project in our area. It starts with your registration and gas tax that you pay when you fill up your snowmobile or ATV/UTV. The $30.00 – 2 year registration you pay (which is very reasonable, compared to other states) and a small % of the gas tax that the grant program receives pays for the following: DNR Administrative cost, Law Enforcement (DNR wardens and County Rec Officers), yearly maintenance in both sports and whatever money is left is where the Governor’s Council come into play. I will discuss the Governor’s ORV Council because I am one of 7 individuals that serve on the council. We meet about 4 times a year with our annual grant meeting taking place in August each year (this year we met on September 22nd due to Covid). This year we met in Wausau on September 22nd to approve/disapprove grant request. This year after all the cost that I described above we had 3.9 million dollars to spend on grant request and we had a total of 52 projects with a total request of 4.2 million dollars. The DNR grant request must be submitted by April 15th each year and must be submitted by a government agency (town, village, city, county, state or federal). Of the 52 grant submitted they are broken down in priority order (Bridge repair and trail rehab are the top 2, followed by new trails and troutes, new winter trail requests and new support facility). Oconto County applied for 5 different grants and all 5 were approved, mostly in the trail rehab area and dust control area. Years ago the ORV Council approved a new support area in Lakewood, the Lakewood Trailhead and Bathroom facilities were paid for out of your registration.
ELECTIONS: Our annual Elections were held at membership meeting on Saturday, the following were the results: Shawn Fidler – President, Loren Nelson – Vice President, Jim Wisneski – Secretary, Dawn Schmocker – Membership Secretary, Tom Suidzinski – Treasurer, Board of Directors: Ron Schmocker, Dave Pitterle, Brian Fitzpatrick, Gene Dunsirn, Mike Richling and Tim Stephani. At our October Board Meeting we will be reviewing our club bylaws and recommending some changes to our membership in 2021.
OCONTO COUNTY ATV/UTV TRAILS: Just a reminder the Oconto County ATV/UTV trails will close on Sunday November 1st, 2020. PLEASE REMEMBER THE NEW STATE LAW THIS YEAR IS THAT ALL ATV/UTV’S MUST HAVE THEIR HEADLIGHTS ON AT ALL TIMES. Hope everyone enjoys the fall weather and we look forward to having a much better 2021!!!!
BUSINESS MEMBERS: Please support the following businesses that belong to our club: Lakewood Super Valu, Lakewood Hardware, Mulligans, The Beach Club, Lotter’s Shell, J & J contracting, Animal’s Bear Trail Inn, Maple Heights Campground, Echo Valley Campground, Boulder Lake Campground, Tebo Lakewood Realty and Cellular, O’Neils Halfway Bar, Firelite Bar & Grill, Waubee Lodge, The School House Bar and Grill, Sandtrap Bar & Grill, Lakewood Motorsports, Anderson Suppler Club, Binder Lake Lodge and All Season Rider ATV Club