17 Acre Woods Slated for Bike Race Course

The DNR has met with a bike team to develop trails on the 17 acre parcel on Willow and the Luce Line. If you live on Countryside, Deer Run, White Oak, portions of Fox Street, portions of Willow, Willow Hill Drive, Abingdon Way, or Longview Circle this message is for you.

Opening up a wooded area for 24 hour mountain bike racing for anyone to come to will create a lot more traffic, parking on Willow and potentially harm the wooded area. Right now there is a Minnesota Environmental Rights Act case winding through Hennepin County Court that will contain expert testimony and opinion on what riding through fresh water streams, wetlands and woods does to local habitat.

In short, ribboning an old growth woods cuts the environment up into smaller environments thereby possibly weakening the ecosystem. We know this because we’ve met and reviewed the Lowry Woods Nature Conservation Area and Bederwood Park Big Woods. There is nothing wrong with Mountain Biking - there is something wrong with damaging one of our few wildlife areas in Orono.

If you are waiting for the City of Orono to inform you, we were told that may or may not happen by the DNR. This may be the first notification. When will this start? As soon as this month.

If you don’t want to see this woods get diminished and are worried about the increased traffic, potential invasive species and degrading of one of our precious wildlife corridors than please do write to:

Sarah Strommen

commissioner.dnr@state.mn.us