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outlandish AWF Admin 
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The Veggie Lakes flap -- USFS plot or citizens' goof? Cook County News-Herald Last Updated: Friday, July 22nd, 2005 09:50:49 AM Vicki Biggs-Anderson Editor/Publisher If Gunflint Ranger Dennis Neitzke had it to do over, he admits he’d have made a bigger deal of a change in recreational use designation to one 1,801-acre plot in Cook County when publicizing the proposed forest plan alternatives for Superior National Forest. Neitzke was the ranger on duty when the forest plan revision was publicized. Although he did not personally choose the final plan he is being blamed for closing off motorized access to the Vegetable Chain of lakes. Local ATV users loudly protest the new designation of non-motorized semi-primitive to a popular fishing area that is tough to get to on foot. Bumper stickers reading “Dump Dennis — Save the Vegetables” have been handed out this summer and appeared in a published photograph of U.S. Rep. James Oberstar this month. (See A5 for Oberstar’s comments on this photograph.) As do many of his constituents, Oberstar faults the USFS regarding the Vegetable Lakes change. He, like many of his constituents, imply that the information was buried in the draft plan alternatives, something that both Neitzke and Superior National Forest Supervisor Jim Sanders deny. Hidden or overlooked? Just how obvious was the change in those weighty draft documents? Critics claim that a map of the changed area in Alternative E shows only a nameless “dot” for the Vegetable Chain/Cucumber Lake. (See graphic) “If you only looked at that, yeah, you could say it’s a dot on the map,” Neitzke said, during an interview at the Gunflint Ranger Station July 20. The black and white map with areas marked for BWCAW and proposed as semi-primitive non-motorized use, shows the Cucumber/Vegetable Lake acreage as a black irregular block bordering the wilderness with most of its boundaries touching public lands. The fact that it is the only area marked in such a way in the county should have caught the attention of those interested in motorized access, Neitzke said, adding that was the reason there was a reviewer’s guide to the draft plan — to point people toward their areas of interest. “What we did with the reviewers guide was to say ‘focus on the areas you are interested in.’ In Alternative E, there is a map with semi—primitive non—motorized changes highlighted. That was done so people interested in motorized recreational use could see it and ask where exactly is that in Cook County. That’s why we had the booth at the open house — for recreational use questions,” Neitzke said. “The whole revised plan was changes in management areas. All the alternatives had significantly different management areas. That’s the whole point of the process. You put the alternatives out there and let people comment on those alternatives,” he said. Change spelled out on Table Reference to the controversial use change was also made in Table PWA—1 of the draft environmental impact statement for the forest plan revision. In this table, all roadless areas, by alternative management areas, for both the Chippewa and Superior National Forests are plainly listed. Thirty Lakes are on the list for Superior National Forest with a total of 60,206 acres potentially affected. Cucumber Lake and it’s surrounding 1,801 acres is the third lake from the bottom of that list. It’s fate under each alternative is spelled out: Alts. A, C & F, General Forest; Alts. B, D & G Recommended Wilderness Recreation; Alt. E, Semi—Primitive Non—Motorized. “If you are following roadless areas, you can see by this table that Cucumber is in there with 1,801 acres,” Neitzke said. Hindsight is 20/20 The fact that Alternative E was the preferred Alternative of the forest service was well known at the time of the June 11, 2003 open house at the Gunflint Ranger District. The local ATV club was joined by riders from around the region in a cavalcade up Highway 61 to the ranger station west of town. Motorized access proponents were invited to visit the booth Neitzke referred to and study the various maps and tables. Neitzke, along with USFS personnel from around the region were there to answer questions and concerns. The Vegetable Lake Chain change was mapped out, tacked up inside a booth and noted by name on a list of roadless areas. But was that enough? Should Neitzke have sought the ATV club members and other motor access proponents out to say “Hey, this is a big change in an area you care about?” Neitzke knows why he didn’t, but admits he wishes now he had. “I’m was so used to semi-primitive non-motorized areas not being a big deal in other forests I’ve worked on, I didn’t think it would be a big deal here. But, sure, now I wish I’d sought them out.” “In all, 60,000 acres were considered for potential new wilderness designation during this planning process. That was what we thought was the big deal. That’s what we asked people to keep track of because it differed by Alternative. “In alternative D, all the potential areas were to become wilderness. In A, none were. We tried to tell folks, that particular change was one of the issues and to keep track of it. During the process and the open house here, nobody mentioned this one (Cucumber). By handing out briefing papers with information on it we felt we were fulfilling our responsibility,” Neitzke said. Kris Reichenbach, public relations officer with Superior National Forest, Duluth, was at the open house in 2003 and is disappointed in public reactions regarding the change. In a phone interview from her office Tuesday, she said “We haven’t really been approached and asked the specifics or what is the real story. After all the efforts we made with plan revision, and efforts to keep people informed, we are reading that we weren’t keeping people informed about what’s going on.” There is recourse Neitzke has no choice now but to enforce the non-motorized designation of the 1,801 acre-Cucumber/Vegetable Lake area. But there is a chance it could be opened up to motor use again if local and state government can make a case with Washington. Neitzke said that the complete inventory of Minnesota roadless areas under the 2005 roadless conservation rule will be fit within the forest plan unless the governor petitions the Sect. of Agriculture to change those designations. It’s local government and the governor’s decision,” Neitzke said. At this point, Governor Tim Pawlenty has given the task of finding the basis for petitioning the Sect. of Agriculture for redress to the Minnesota Forest Resource Council. The council has until Nov. 2006 to file that petition. After that, a decision could be forthcoming within a year. Sidebar: oberstar After a photograph of U.S. Rep. James Oberstar and a Gunflint Lake resident who was holding a “Dump Dennis - Save the Vegetables” bumper sticker appeared in a newspaper, Oberstar was asked if he endorsed the idea of “dumping” Gunflint Ranger Dennis Neitzke. The USFS ranger has taken the brunt of the criticism for the Vegetable Chain of Lakes being closed to motorized access. Oberstar made the following comments in a phone interview from his Washington, D.C. offices on Wednesday, July 20. About the photograph: “I invited resorters, outfitters and others to a meeting at the Gunflint Lodge to discuss issues of interest to them. There was no formal agenda, and it was open to the public. When I arrived, the people at the meeting had a catalogue of concerns, and they expressed their opinions about several matters. There was a lot of animosity expressed toward the Forest Service by local citizens. At the end of the meeting, I was greeting people, and one person walked up to me and held up a bumper sticker. I thought it was a joke, because I didn’t realize they were handing out the bumper stickers. I said ‘you guys must really be hot about this’ and ‘you don’t want to do that’ [put the bumper stickers on cars]. At that moment, a reporter took a photo. I didn’t pose with the bumper sticker, and I didn’t invite the reporter to take the picture at that moment. The picture was not a statement — it was an accident. I was not complaining about Dennis Neitzke — the constituent was.” With regard to the forest plan: “I heard about many forestry issues in numerous meetings before the plan’s finalization, and nobody raised the de—motorized issue. No environmental groups called my office regarding this issue. People at the meeting — the citizens who are most affected by the change — said they read the draft plan from beginning to end and didn’t see it. Further, it is incumbent upon and the responsibility of the Forest Service to say they intend to do something that is a departure from past practices. This is a major change, and the Forest Service should have notified the people who were most affected. You don’t just put it out there and hope that no one notices. Apparently that is what they [Forest Service] were thinking — slip it in under the cover of darkness. The Forest Service had the obligation to raise this issue and initiate a public discussion of the proposed change.” Clarification of Rep. Oberstar’s stance After a photograph of U.S. Rep. James Oberstar and a Gunflint Lake resident who was holding a “Dump Dennis - Save the Vegetables” bumper sticker appeared in a newspaper, Oberstar was asked if he endorsed the idea of “dumping” Gunflint Ranger Dennis Neitzke. The USFS ranger has taken the brunt of the criticism for the Vegetable Chain of Lakes being closed to motorized access. Oberstar made the following comments via e-mail from his Washington, D.C. offices on Wednesday, July 20. About the photograph: “I invited resorters, outfitters and others to a meeting at the Gunflint Lodge to discuss issues of interest to them. There was no formal agenda, and it was open to the public. When I arrived, the people at the meeting had a catalogue of concerns, and they expressed their opinions about several matters. There was a lot of animosity expressed toward the Forest Service by local citizens. At the end of the meeting, I was greeting people, and one person walked up to me and held up a bumper sticker. I thought it was a joke, because I didn’t realize they were handing out the bumper stickers. I said ‘you guys must really be hot about this’ and ‘you don’t want to do that’ [put the bumper stickers on cars]. At that moment, a reporter took a photo. I didn’t pose with the bumper sticker, and I didn’t invite the reporter to take the picture at that moment. The picture was not a statement — it was an accident. I was not complaining about Dennis Neitzke — the constituent was.” With regard to the forest plan: “I heard about many forestry issues in numerous meetings before the plan’s finalization, and nobody raised the de-motorized issue. No environmental groups called my office regarding this issue. People at the meeting — the citizens who are most affected by the change — said they read the draft plan from beginning to end and didn’t see it. Further, it is incumbent upon and the responsibility of the Forest Service to say they intend to do something that is a departure from past practices. This is a major change, and the Forest Service should have notified the people who were most affected. You don’t just put it out there and hope that no one notices. Apparently that is what they [Forest Service] were thinking — slip it in under the cover of darkness. The Forest Service had the obligation to raise this issue and initiate a public discussion of the proposed change.”
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