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outlandish AWF Admin 
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ATV'ers seek a park of their own By Rick LaFrombois Wausau Daily Herald The recent resignation of Dave Marg, Marathon County's snowmobile and ATV coordinator, has left ATV riders scrambling to find ways to establish their own park. Marg, 45, of Mosinee admitted to stealing $25,000 in state grants and could spend more than 40 years in prison. He resigned from the coordinator job on Oct. 10. But before his resignation, Marg had secured a $300,000 state grant and planned to push the county to establish an all-terrain vehicle park in the town of Cleveland. His departure has cast doubt that the county will ever help establish an ATV park, William Bell, president of the Marathon Off-Road ATV/Motorcycle Club, said after Marg resigned. "You've got to have the advocate there fighting the good fight," Bell said. County leaders balked at a proposal to purchase land for the park in the town of Cleveland. The county can't afford to operate such a park, County Administrator Mort McBain has said. But the county isn't completely unwilling to help ATV riders establish an intensive-use park, McBain said. If ATV enthusiasts join forces to take ownership of an ATV park, the county would be willing to act as a conduit for state funds, McBain said. Case for an ATV park Marg had pushed for an ATV park for several years because many ATV riders bypass the county for better haunts farther north and east. ATV riders spend about $525 on each out-of-town trip in Wisconsin and pump about $296 million annually into the state's economy, according to a 2004 state Department of Tourism study. Marathon County has the most registered ATVs of any county in the state - 8,400 - but has one of the state's smallest ATV trail systems. The county maintains fewer than 20 miles of ATV trails, compared with 800 miles of snowmobile trails. The county has 8,200 registered snowmobiles. When Marg secured the $300,000 grant for an ATV park in Cleveland, more than 600 ATV users, mostly members of the Mid Wisconsin ATV Trail Blazers club, signed a petition in favor of a county ATV park, so support for a park is strong. But the land in Cleveland might no longer be an option. A potential buyer has made an offer to purchase the property, Randy Thurs, president of the Trailmates Snowmobile Club and an ATV rider, said after Marg resigned. ATV enthusiasts might turn to municipalities to be a conduit for state ATV funds, Bell said. Counties are required to be the conduit for state snowmobile funds, but any municipality also can be, he said. That means any city, town or village could apply for grants to buy land and build an ATV park. And it could also ask for dollars to help maintain the park. New coordinator County Park Ranger Jon Daniels will assume Marg's responsibilities on a part-time basis. Daniels will have his hands full juggling park ranger and snowmobile and ATV duties. He will not have as much time to pursue grants for an ATV park as Marg did. McBain said Daniels is a "company man." He sees things the county's way, and the county has no interest in owning and operating an ATV park despite its potential to draw large sums of tourist dollars to the county, McBain said. Daniels has said that he supports an ATV park. "I think it would get great use, but we're going to have to take it one step at a time, I guess, and work in that direction."
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