LANSING – More of the state would be reachable via trails and those trails would be better maintained under a plan released Thursday by the Department of Natural Resources for public comment.

The five-year plan calls for extensions of and improvements to existing trails as well as creation of new trails to serve both non-motorized uses, like hiking, cycling and horseback riding, as well as motorized uses like off-road vehicles and snowmobiles. The state would also develop a system of water trails under the plan.

“Michigan is home to a vast and varied trail system. Our goal is to provide a consistent, quality resource that best meets the needs of the steadily increasing number of trail users,” Parks and Recreation Division Chief Ron Olson said in a statement announcing the comment period.

The Snowmobile and Trails Advisory Council was charged by the Legislature to develop the plan, but the council charged back that the Legislature has to help develop funding sources for some of the improvements needed.

For non-motorized trails, the council said the focus should be on “loop trails” that allow varying distance trips but returning to the starting point. While the state should be involved in maintenance and expansion of those systems, the plan also called for trying to develop community groups to aid with maintenance.

The existing trails also needed additional amenities like benches and toilet facilities.

And trail owners, be it the state or local communities, need to do more to market the trails.

For equestrians, not only does the state need to develop additional loop trails, but also allow more access to trails in existing parks, recreation areas and forests, particularly for trails at least 10 miles long.

Non-motorized traffic also needs more access, the plan says, to linear trails that would allow travel between communities, the council said. Part of that effort should include providing connections from the trails to amenities in the communities they pass through. The state also, though, should be encouraging communities along the trails to adopt Complete Streets plans, with a goal of 50 percent of communities adopting plans and 75 percent of those developing feeder routes to the trails within their non-motorized plans.

The council also echoed the governor’s call for a hiking trail to connect Belle Isle to Ironwood.

One source of funding for the projects, the council said, would be the Natural Resources Trust Fund, and it called on the trust fund board to reinstitute a $500,000 cap on development grants to spread those funds to more projects.

For snowmobiles and ORVs, the council said the priority is interconnecting the trails already in place. As with the walking paths, this would include connections to various communities and the amenities there.

In particular, the state should have trails that run from the central Lower Peninsula to Mackinaw City and then loop around the Upper Peninsula, the plan says.

The council also called for more efforts to allow ORVs and snowmobiles to share trails in alternating seasons.

Funding for the plan would come from a combination of increased fees and better enforcement. The council recommended increasing the ORV fee and including an option to index the fees to inflation. For snowmobiles, it said the state should work with local law enforcement to ensure those using the trails have permits, potentially increasing the fines for riding without.

For water trails, the council said the state first has to determine what counts as a trail and officially designate those trails. But it said in the next five years, 30 percent of the state’s navigable waters and 75 percent of the Great Lakes shoreline should have a designated water trail.

The department is accepting comment on the plan through January 25. Comment is being accepted through an online survey.

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