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Comprehensive-plan recreation chapter highlights trails, forest acquisition and a proposed conservancy classification
Summary
Planners reviewed Chapter 11, noting trail and park updates, county forest acquisition priorities, a suggested conservancy park classification, and ideas for wetland mitigation areas to support development and conservation.
Marathon County planners presented Chapter 11 (Recreation, Tourism and Natural Resources), highlighting a number of recent trail and park updates and proposing objectives for recreation access and tourism promotion.
Laurie Kimmons said staff added items such as Wausau Ignite, state-trail expansion work, the Ice Age Trail and projects tied to the Dells of the Eau Claire. "We have an abundance of these amenities and that we should really work on a regional level to highlight and promote those things," Kimmons said.
Parks and Forestry identified priorities including preserving the ability to acquire natural-resource lands when they become available, and suggested creating a conservancy park classification to enable preservation and targeted management. Kimmons also noted changing recreation patterns, in part driven by changing weather, and recommended developing strategies to modify recreation offerings in response to altered seasonal use.
Supervisors raised additional facility and trail items supervisors wanted included: ATV/UTV trail development, local bike-trail features (including landfill and granite-bike trails), and People’s Field as a regional sporting facility. Supervisor Mirage asked whether tourism-promotion activities would require budget allocation; planners said action strategies and prioritization would be developed in later chapters and that the county board would need to allocate funds or staff time for specific promotions.
A supervisor suggested exploring wetland-mitigation areas as a tool to allow developers to offset wetland impacts while providing conserved wetland lands that could also serve recreation and ecological goals. Jeff Pritchard described this as a possible mitigation approach that could help fund preservation and long-term management of wetlands acquired for mitigation.
No policy changes were adopted; staff will refine objectives and link them to Chapter 13 action strategies for prioritization and potential budget requests.
