Richard Bong State Recreation Area Class 1 Dog Training Area Requested Change
The Wisconsin DNR is developing a Regional Master Plan for Properties in the Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Area and Richard Bong State Recreation Area (Bong) is included in the plan. The number of users and user groups at Bong has increased consistently over the last 20 years but the availability of property for these users has not. The most significant growth is in the number of dog trainers, but the number of people participating in recreational activities such as rocket launching and ATV riding has also increased. This increase in users, coupled with the area limitations, has caused numerous and frequent conflicts and congestion between these users and user groups.
Even though several changes have been made to reduce congestion and conflicts, the limited AREA available to the user groups is the main problem and concern. Considering the growth in user numbers in recent years, we believe the NEW Master Plan should include changes to accommodate for future growth by expanding the area available for these activities. Nearly half of the area in Bong, south of Highway 142, has restrictions or no availability to anyone other than casual hikers. We have briefly described these areas below and we are requesting these restrictions be removed to accommodate the current congestion as well as the expected growth in users over the next 20 years.
The class 1 area shown below is open to dog trainers and other users year-round. However, the class 2 area is only available for ATV and Rocket activities from April 15th until end of July. This restricted use of the Class 2 area forces all dog activities into the class 1 area, which is less than 50% of the usable area south of highway 142. This 3 ½ month restriction, which is half of the dog training season, is the main cause of the congestion and conflicts at Bong.
In addition to the Class 2 restrictions, the large area to the east of the Class 2 area and south of Wolf Lake, referred to as the Ponderosa, is not available to any of these user groups. We believe this area is very suitable for dog training, on-foot and horseback, and opening this area for those activities would have an immediate positive impact by reducing the congestion in the Class 1 area.
We, as a unified group of users at Bong, are requesting that the Class 2 Area and the Ponderosa Area be rezoned into Class 1 making it available for year-round usage. The expansion of the Class 1 area for these user groups will immediately reduce the current congestion and conflicts which will allow growth for all activities at Bong.
Richard Bong Field Trial Association Contact the author of the petition