The Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest has launched an interactive map to help gather comments on campgrounds, boat landings, picnic areas and beaches as it works to develop a sustainable recreation program.
Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest spokesperson Hilary Markin says funding cutbacks requires Forest leaders to make hard decisions on what they can maintain, and they want the public to identify their most popular places and activities...
".....we want people to go to the interactive map and tell us what they like because the Forest is working on developing a sustainable recreation program. For many years we've kept everything we've had on the recreation landscape and we can no longer keep everything we've got. We need to do something differently. Our budgets have declined a little bit. Obviously our cost of maintenance and operations continues to go up and we need to do something different. We need a different model for our recreation programs....."
. Many of the Forest's recreation assets are starting to show signs of disrepair and the costs to operate and maintain these sites continues to increase to a level that is beyond the Forest’s capabilities...
"....we want to hear from everybody as to what their favorite sites are and why. Or if there's a group interested in taking over a rec site or has a different solution how we could keep that rec site open but manage it differently...."
The initial comment period runs through December 31st. The Forest will also be using comments submitted in the past as part of this process.
Go to the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forestwebsite and click on 'seeking recreational use comments'..