Truth hurts

Truth hurts.

The rational rest of us are always entertained by the road rage rants in the local ATV rag on what currently bugs the Cook County ATV Club. But, I for one was hoping for something honest and new this week, like the price of gas making it so much more expensive to rampage. Or, rising outrage around the country about the number of children killed and injured in ATV accidents. Or, the fact that ATVs are getting banned in many parts of the country because of the damage they do to the landscape. Or, closer to home, about the difficulty of, on the one hand, proclaiming total abidance with the law by ATV owners everywhere (and especially here in Cook County), and on the other having to bear the ignominy of working with a club leader charged along with others for shooting from a moving vehicle. It has to be tough to declare just how law abiding the club leadership is, and how you are going to follow the rules and how you are going to police yourselves and know that no one believes a word you say. It is always the case that it’s not your enemies who eventually do you in, it is your friends. Well, the club did tell us the ranks of ATV enthusiasts include a lot of birders. But, let's get back on track.

No, none of those. What was the weekly rail directed at? ... The truth! At least the truth as reported in the recently distributed survey of Cook County residents regarding their attitudes toward ATV travel in the county. Thank you Sustainable Recreation Coalition!

The rag's reaction to the report on the survey was the usual knee jerk, but rather than ride along on the calumnious scribbles of the ATV club's literary wingette, get a copy of the report and have a look at the facts behind it - decide for yourself. The report was clearly based on a professionally conducted blind survey of the opinions of a random sample of Cook County residents. From what I read, the survey was conducted in a totally scientific manner and by a well respected researcher who the ATV industry itself has used, and it was done under the auspices of the University of Minnesota. The bottom line is that it is totally credible.

And, the report itself was, as they say, a fair and balanced presentation of the data contained in the survey. What the report showed is that, contrary to what the ATV club would have us all believe, a significant portion of Cook County residents do not want ATVs running rampant on county roads, etc. The ATV club has often been heard to profess that the majority of county residents favor them in their quest for wide open riding. The survey clearly demonstrates that is absolutely false. Most folks want reasonable restrictions on ATVs and, unlike the ATV club, no one wants the county turned in to an ATV destination. There is a litany of very rational and reasonable opinion on related concerns quantified in the survey and presented in the report, and it is clear that the facts are four square against the mis-information that the ATV club has been spreading. The bottom line is that the ATV club does not have the support they profess. The kind thing to say is that they are delusional.

What seems to particularly jamb the club's carburetors is that the Sustainable Recreation Coalition, the group that paid for the survey, had the temerity to report on it and to do so in a clear, fair and factual manner rather than obscure or distort the facts. Wow. Those four wheeling purveyors of fact and stalwarts of truth just don't get it that the world is not like them and that most of the county does not especially appreciate ATVs.

Not all the results of the survey benefit those who oppose the ATV club's position, but I am sure we all knew that the county is not of one mind on this issue. What we do now know, however, is that the majority of us have not fully inhaled the ATV club's exhaust. For over a year they have been spewing their noxious fantasies about overwhelming support for their pipe dreams of ATVs gone wild. Well, it just ain't so. The clear message from county residents is you can mess up your own yard, but we don't want you to ruin the neighborhood in the process. Hopefully the county commissioners come to the same conclusion. The ATV task force has not served the county well, and this whole issue should never have been given the consideration it has received. The board should not waste any more time on it.

Lutsen Mountain: the new Aspen?

There's a good reason for the 35 foot height limit for all building in Cook County. We are one of the few areas left in this nation with forests, wetlands, lakes and shoreland, thanks mainly to the fact that only nine percent of the county is privately owned. This keeps out the mega-developers, as does our zoning ordinances.
Look at many places that were once special destinations and now are just overdeveloped McMansions: South Florida, much of Colorado's ski resorts, Door County, Wisconsin--to name only a few.
By requesting a 55 foot building on Lutsen Mountain, Lutsen Mountain Corporation is opening Pandora's box. Once it happens there is no turning back and others will be scrambling to get on the bandwagon: witness the rental condo development fiasco in Grand Marais that finally ended after voters changed the City Council and the housing bubble deflated.
The argument in favor, as I read it, is mainly that higher means a smaller footprint. Surely this is specious. Every time I drive up Highway 61 I can't help but notice the Bavarian Castle owned by The Arnold, governor of over-developed California, perched on overhanging ledgerock for all to see and be awed.
People who come here, our bread-and-butter folks, love that we have kept our wild spaces and limited the size and scope of our developments.
Worst of all, without the questions asked by Lutsen supervisor Diane Parker, this travesty would have passed the town council with scarcely any public process. That's in sharp contrast to the excellent work done by the Lutsen Planning Committee and the U of M Center for Changing Landscapes on the town center and highway/bike trail configurations. Why the discrepancy?
The county's response is lukewarm with Bob Fenwick fussing about how height limits are determined and nobody really wanting to say No to such a big landowner and employer.
Development works best when it follows the guidelines set by open and inclusive public processes. Designs need to first of all preserve and protect our fragile ecosystem, which grows largely on fractured bedrock and is thereby vulnerable to stormwater erosion, non-source point pollution, and most of all over-development.
New True

The silent sports majority speaks

The results are in for Cook County: most of us don't want to be an ATV destination. We love the peace and silence of the woods and we want to protect, not destroy, the fragile infrastructure that sustains our flora and fauna. This includes our ditches, which serve an important purpose in stormwater runoff and are damaged by big ATV tires.
Here are the numbers, crunched by the U of M Tourism Center with a 56 percent response rate (amazingly high) of Cook County residents:
* 78 percent oppose ATVs on paved roadways.
* 57 percent oppose ATVs on shoulders of paved roadways.
* 65 percent oppose ATV riding in ditches in residential areas.
* 53 percent favor closing most public lands to ATV use.
* 49 percent would confine ATV riders to their own property to minimize damage to public lands.
AND....
* 60 percent do not want Cook County promoted as an ATV destination.
A super-majority of residents (71 percent) don't own ATVs and nearly two-thirds don't own snowmobiles.
The U of M report recommends environmental assessments, a "Safe, Quiet and Wild Cook County" tourism task force, proposals for ATV use on private lands and other steps to minimize ATV impact on us silent sports majority.
Request an e-mail copy of the survey from sustainable-recreation-coalition@hughes.net.
New True

Who is he and what was he smoking?

The tragic death of Ken Petersen, whose only crime was being a good Samaritan and cutting up a downed tree on the Gunflint Trail, raises a lot of scary questions about the good old boy network in Cook County.
Ken was killed by a Border Patrol agent who claims he didn't see either the man or the tree blocking the road. What was he smoking?
More to the point, why is his name not released? In any other road accident there is no secrecy. But the Homeland Honchos have their perks, I guess.
Routinely, the state patrol issues tickets whenever there is a road accident, no matter whether anyone is hurt or any property is damaged. When a ticket is issued, the driver gets listed on the Court Report. County Judge Kenneth Sandvik declares that this is totally okay. So, why does a Border Patrol agent get special treatment? Who is this guy?
It's all part of the special privileges granted to "Homeland Security" as I see it. They get to do all sorts of bad stuff because... well, just because they can.
Ken Petersen was an exceptional person, brilliant and good and kind. Yes, accidents do happen, BUT. I know I would never hit a person and/or a tree in the road; if my vision got that bad I would quit driving.
People, ask questions.
New True

Duluth News Tribune | Water bill becomes law with Senate override: Millions aimed at Northland projects

Our precious water: please read the excellent linked article by Duluth Tribune writer John Myers about how critically the water bill vetoed by The Unitary Executive but approved by Congress after all will impact our environment and our safe and clean waters:

Duluth News Tribune | Water bill becomes law with Senate override: Millions aimed at Northland projects

Congressman James L Oberstar -- Oberstar: Congress Will Override Bush Veto

The latest Bush veto affects harbor improvements in Grand Marais as well as many, many significant water infrastructure projects. Thanks to our Rep. Jim and other members of Congress for a first--a veto override--and one that makes our lakes and waterways much safer for the future, for our children. Here's the press release:

Congressman James L Oberstar -- Oberstar: Congress Will Override Bush Veto

White Trash

Dear New True,
Recently I have been letting my foolish young puppy run free in the seasonally-empty hockey rink, where she is safe from wolves, bears and other predators.
Every day when I arrive I find more "white trash." I call it white because the people who dump it are 99 percent white. Yucky cigarette butts by the dozen; where did smokers get the idea they could throw their ugly filter butts that don't break down like organic waste? Not to mention pencils, legos, broken glass, plastic bottles and tin cans, gum and candy and cake wrappers.... Most of this trash could be recycled and none of it is biodegradable. What culprits does that sound like to you?
My guess is, kids partying at night. Is the Pope Catholic? Does a bear shit in the woods?
I've seen lots of other evidence that kids see the whole county as their personal trash can. On my private road, for instance, I find beer and pop cans, food wrappers and broken bottles. I even found the remains of a campfire during the fire ban this summer. Or just look at the road ditches. One day I saw a kid snowmobiling down Broadway who tossed a liter-sized plastic pop bottle on the sidewalk.
What is the deal here? Were these brats brought up in a barn? Where are their parents, or did they learn these bad habits from same?
Cook County sells beauty to tourists. Anybody who destroys that beauty deserves to be called to account. Community service is what I suggest, because the parents won't be able to do that for them. I would assign them the job of cleaning up all the white trash after school so at least they wouldn't have time to throw out more.
As for me, I pick up after myself and my dog but not the white trash folks. That just "enables" their bad behavior.
Yours truly,
Pooper Scooper