Shooting range planning continues
NEWS EDITOR
Area sportsman clubs will take the lead in seeking additional grant funding for a proposed shooting range in the Taylor County Forest near Rib Lake.
Taylor County Forestry and Recreation has been working with groups to get a shooting range developed in the area. The county currently maintains a shooting range on Pirus Road in the south central part of the county. That range sees heavy use especially leading up to hunting season and there is a need for additional public facilities. The county has donated staff time and has committed county forest land to the project.
According to forest administrator Lucas Williams, project partners are looking to put together more local funds to serve as a match to any larger grants received. A potential source of funding being considered is the Powerline Impact Fee Fund.
Powerline Impact Fee grants are targeted toward projects that deal with outdoor recreation, but have been used for a wide variety of projects over the years. As the impact fee payments from the Arrowhead to Weston power transmission line decrease, the county earlier this year tightened the regulations about to whom and how much grants would be awarded to allow the fund to continue to operate for years to come.
At the August 1 forestry committee meeting, Williams explained that it is typically partner organizations rather than county departments who would seek funding.
Committee member Rollie Thums agreed that it would be better for Taylor Count Sportsmans Club to request the funding rather than the forestry department.
“I don’t think that we should be doing it,” Thums said of the committee requesting Powerline Funds, instead it should be private groups asking for it. He noted the county is donating the spot for the range.
In other grant action, Williams came to the committee asking permission to hire a local contractor for the Turkey Stamp Grant project to create wildlife openings in the county forests.
The county received $15,700 in grant funding with half to be paid this year and half next year. Williams said the goal is to create 8-10 openings which will serve as places for improved habitat for ground birds.
Williams said that rather than putting it out on bid to do the earthwork, he wanted to work directly with Rock Thums who has a specialized fang rake that will be able to remove tree saplings without clearing too much topsoil. Williams said the first year is more trial and error with it, due to him not having experience in setting up these types of wildlife clearings before.
Thums noted that he would be abstaining from voting on the measure to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest. He said he was supportive of working with someone this year as Williams experiments with the best way to do it. However, he said he felt the county should go out on bid with it in the future to be fair to all contractors. “I support what we are doing absolutely,” Thums said.
Committee members, with Thums abstaining, approved allowing Williams to work with a contractor to get the clearing project started. Road maintenance plan Taylor County may look at scaling back its forest road maintenance plans in future years. The county forest currently has a 10-year road maintenance plan underway where they budget $25,000 each year to improve roads in the forest.
These roads are used primarily for loggers to have access to logging sales, but also are a benefit to recreational users of the forest including ATV/UTV riders and hunters in the forest.
According to Williams, there are two years left in the current plan and the county is working to prioritize projects. “All the main rods have been fixed,” Williams said.
He said the county can be more selective going forward and reevaluate the needs of continuing to routinely budget the funds after 2028.
“I don’t like spending money on roads behind gates,” Williams said noting it is a hard argument that that is the best use of the money. Many roads in the county forest have gates on them to prevent car or truck traffic to access logging areas because those access roads are not built for that level of use.
Having high-quality access to sales has been a positive for the county compared to other county forests. This has been credited with allowing the county to be more successful than other counties in getting bidders for their logging sales.
The money for the road improvements comes from timber sale revenue.
“I think the plan has run its course,” Thums said. He added that he does not want to see the county do something like putting four inches of gravel on all the forest roads, just because they have the money to do it.
Committee members agreed that it would be wise to keep some money budgeted for road improvements as they are needed. Williams agreed, noting he has one road wash out twice this summer due to the heavy rains.
Committee member Gary Beadles noted that if the money isn’t used in the county forest, the county board will spend it somewhere else. Horse camp Williams updated committee members on the county’s horse camp. He said there is not as much use this time of year due to mosquitos and flies, but that in the fall usage picks up. He said there is a ride scheduled for mid-September and that the local horse club has some new leaders who are more active.
“There is new leadership in the club,” Williams said, noting he has been working with them about ideas for making improvements including to the access road into the camp. Williams said the road is a dirt track and that when it is graded, it just brings up large rocks which doesn’t work well with the horse trailers. He said he does not plan on having it routinely graded in the future and suggested that would be a road due for improvements.
“I think it is something we need to promote,” Williams said of county horse camp.
Beadles agreed, noting that he and his family have visited horse camp areas throughout the state and that people would come here for it. Thums agreed and praised horseback riding.
“Nothing smells better than a horse - not even perfume on a woman, Thums said.
