10/17/2006

Property ordered moved

BY SHERI McWHIRTER

sherimcwhirter@hotmail.com

CHEBOYGAN — Residents along the new Mullett Lake snowmobile trail are being warned about trespassing in the trail right-of-way, part of preparations for the trail opening this winter.

State officials sent a letter to adjacent property owners and threatened to ticket them or seize property that's been stored along the former railroad grade. Some residents have long stowed property within the trail pathway — boats, trailers, docks and other recreational equipment.

The state's deadline for property removal is Wednesday.

"I think it's mostly a season storage area for people," said Ann Wilson, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Now the gear must be moved to make way for snowmobile riders expected to use the trail this year, she said.

Homeowners may be held responsible for injuries to riders if they don't move their personal property, she said.

A 12-mile stretch along the western shoreline of Mullett Lake in Cheboygan County will open Dec. 1 for the first time as a designated state snowmobile route. The route features a 35-mph speed limit and snowmobile curfew between midnight and 8 a.m.

The abandoned railroad property has been at the center of a nearly decade-long dispute. The land was purchased by the state in 1998 with Michigan Natural Resources Trust dollars, under the stipulation that it forever remain a quiet, non-motorized recreational trail.

However, when an alternate route could not be found through the Pigeon River Country State Forest, state officials rescinded the previous restriction along the route and made it a designated state snowmobile trail.

Some homeowners threatened to file a lawsuit against the state for reneging on the agreement to keep a non-motorized trail, but were deterred by costs, said Gray Fischer, a homeowner near Topinabee.

"You've got to go up against the state government, for gosh sakes. That's expensive," he said.