By John Raffel
Correspondent
ALLEGAN – After a two-year wait for a reply to his proposal, a Ganges Township resident’s plan for a bicycle path across the massive, forested Allegan state game area has been rejected by the state’s Department of Natural Resources.
Commission chairman Jim Storey said Dr. Rob Allen approached the Board of Commissioners for help in getting the state’s resource agency to respond to his bike path proposals.
“His repeated attempts for dialogue with the agency were met with silence,” Storey said. “The board adopted a resolution officially requesting a response to his plan and to collaborate on opening the game area to other non-hunting users. Using the offices of the county’s Lansing representative, the agency’s response was finally obtained from Taylor Ridderbusch, of the DNR’s legislative and legal affairs office.”
Storey said portions of the response included “the direction is not to create additional designated bike trails on SGA’s (state game areas; emphasis mine) because that would interfere..with the primary purpose of game areas… thousands of miles of bike trails that already exist, I believe the Allegan County resolution would not be approved under the guidelines we are discussing.
“Development of such a trail on an SGA is not in line with the primary purpose of hunting/trapping and associated recreation.”
Storey said Commissioners adopted a strategic plan earlier this year that called for greater use of the state game area for all in addition to hunters and trappers.
“The game area and other state-owned, DNR controlled land constitute approximately 11 percent of the county’s 1833 square miles and should be open to other recreational pursuits of residents and visitors alike, such as bicycle riding,” Storey said.