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Oneida County seeks input on five-year outdoor recreation plan

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Oneida County is in the process of updating its outdoor recreation plan.

The plan needs to be updated every five years.

Oneida County Forest Director Paul Fiene has seen a lot of changes in the last decade when it comes to how people spend time outdoors in the county.

“The silent sports have grown exponentially in the last decade or so and significantly over the last five years during the period of this plan,” said Fiene.

Fiene says ATV/UTV growth has also really taken off. He expects to continue to do so.

“Especially with some of the iffy weather we have during the winter. Snowmobiling is not always a guarantee or at least not for a long period of time. I think the ATV/UTV use is going to increase. I see over the next five years improvements or additions to our ATV/UTV trail system,” he said.

No matter how you enjoy the outdoors, Oneida County wants your feedback.

The county is in the beginning stages of updating its recreation plan for the next five years.

“A lot of people might be thinking of things we haven’t thought of. That lightbulb goes off like, ‘So and so mentioned something on this survey’ and it’s like, ‘Yeah. That’d be an awesome idea.’ We’re just trying to get a feeling for what people are looking for when they’re out on the county forest and in Oneida County in general,” said Fiene.

People can take an online survey here. The deadline for it is Sunday, April 9.

The North Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission will compile data from the surveys that the county will use to update the recreation plan.

“It’s kind of a wish list. We seldom are ever able to get to all the projects that we put in here just because money, time, and personnel don’t allow us to do everything. But we try to hit the biggest, most important ones and then the second priority ones as we get to them,” said Fiene.

Having a recreation plan in place allows the county as well as its townships and villages access to certain grant money.

The current recreation plan expires at the end of this year.

Katie Thoresen is WXPR's News Director/Vice President.
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