The meeting is at the Hiawatha Snowmobile Club Clubhouse. (located a half-mile north of the intersection of Marquette County Road 480 and M-553, known locally as “the crossroads.” )
The Natural Resources Commission —the rule making body for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources— will take public testimony next month in Marquette on equestrian use of the Blueberry Ridge Pathway.
Dear Fellow Skiers and Supporters of Blueberry Ridge Trails:
Please consider attending the upcoming DNR Natural Resource Commission meeting where the review of whether horses should be permitted back on to BBR will take place. Please come and voice your support of the local DNR review which made a decision to protect and conserve BBR Trails. At the October meeting we heard from the local field office on their recommendations to continue the horse and bike restrictions. Some info learned at this meeting included:
“DNR recommends that the restriction on horses and mountain bikes at BBR continue. The DNR has invested significant public funding and resources in building Thunder Valley Equestrian Trail (TVET) and rehabilitating resource damage at BBR. TVET is located on heavier soil, is less hilly, and is less likely to be susceptible to resource damage than BBR. BBR was originally designed as a ski facility and soil and topography are not well suited for horses or bikes.”
Please pass the information on and encourage folks to come and voice their support of keeping the horses off BBR. If they cannot make the meeting, encourage them to write a letter Michigan DNR, Marquette Operations Service Center, 1990 US-41 South, Marquette, MI 49855 or call 228-6561 or e-mail DNR-Director@michigan.gov You can also watch an informative power point on this issue by going to http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/BlueberryRidgeEquestrianReview_369074_7.pdf